In the article, “Cyber vigilantism, transmedia collective intelligence, and civic participation”, the authors provide several cases whereby citizen online and collective action on connected media platforms helped to advance civic action, and bring justice to corrupt officials.
Look for news articles about citizen engagement and collective intelligence where everyday folks use digital and social media to solve problems and participate in civic issues.
For example, there was a prominent case whereby citizens worked to uncover the identity of a woman who called the police for a false report (e.g. New York Times, White woman Is fired after calling police on Black man in Central Park, 05/26/2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/nyregion/amy-cooper-dog-central-park.html). One notable part of the article that is relevant to cyber vigilantism states, “Shortly after the video was posted on Monday, someone who said they had been the white woman’s dog walker identified her. Her name soon began trending on Twitter. Internet sleuths digging into Ms. Cooper’s life found an Instagram profile of her dog, Henry, and began sharing old photos documenting injuries he had suffered.”
In a 600-800 word report, complete the following:
- Find another news article on the topic of citizen engagement and transmedia collective intelligence. Provide a reference or online link to the article.
- Describe the role that online media and collective intelligence played in this case to advance civic action.
- What are the benefits as well as drawbacks in these mediated actions?