Clunky Flow

The news.

Facebook, once again, got smacked on the wrist by its userbase.

Zuckerberg has indicated that the swift and negative reaction to their recent efforts to amend the terms of service had helped him realise it was now time to deal with this.

Facebook plans to prevent this happening again.

They’ve presented their plan as ‘Facebook opens discussion on a ‘bill of rights’ for the governance of their userbase.’

What this really means:

The reality is that this intervention will affect the SOCIAL DYNAMIC on Facebook in a very significant way.

This intervention will:

1. Defuse ‘Stop Energy’.
2. Clear the way for ‘Forward Motion’.

More on ‘Stop Energy’ and ‘Forward Motion’.

‘Stop Energy’:

Most types of collective action organize around ‘Stop Energy’. Facebook users have mobilised and engaged in ‘Stop Energy’ to great success time and again. Its the only effective power available to the users of Facebook. Or any large-scale informally organised collective.

Rerouting ‘Stop Energy’ into a pseudo-democratic consultation process will effectively quench its power. As an act of political hegemony if would be described as the employment of a bureaucracy to make power seem remote and tiresome to engage in for the typical user on any particular issue.

‘Forward Motion’:

”Forward Motion’ is very difficult to initiate or progress in informally organised collectives.

However, ‘Forward Motion’ is the raison d’etre of formal organisations and firms. Facebook, like any other formal organisation is a lean, mean and very effective machine at mobilising ‘Forward Motion’. Naturally, Facebook will leverage this ability to drive forward the Facebook agenda.

Political hegemony:

At large scale, collective action is best mobilised by a simple coordinating signal.
And best extinguished by efforts at large-scale collective conversation.
Facebook now reroutes collective action into collective conversation.

Its a master-stroke of a political hegemony.
Its a classic ‘bait-and-switch’.

Nice stroke, Facebook.

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