New Forms of Social Capital

This new idea that political groups are meeting each other online rather than face-to-face is a drastic change. A great quote from the article is, "According to Spier, the Black Bloc is so loosely organized that the participants do not even know each other. They simply share a radical anti-capitalist view. They find each other, and plan their civil disobedience, entirely on the Internet." (105) I was taken aback when I read this as it intrigues me that a group of people can feel so passionate about something similar and have so much trust in each other, and to never have met each other. I also found this quote interesting as it certainly proves to us just how powerful the internet has become. The internet makes life so much easier for protesters as they can always keep in contact with each other about their thoughts on politics, as well as much more easily prepare protests as the Black Bloc did here. While I feel face-to-face communication is better than online communication, the internet allows these people to really voice everything they want to here and because the internet is open to all, people with similar views are going to find each other. As with Spier, "the internet's information, communication, and networking power enabled Spier to discover his passion for social justice and to find the willingness to sacrifice his freedom to express it. Although other media stirred his emotions and informed his ideology, the internet enabled him to conduct unmediated, two-way, one-to-one, and many-to-many communications with other of his like mind." (99) Thus, I believe this new form of social capital is something that we must play very close attention to.