{"id":652,"date":"2009-04-18T11:11:44","date_gmt":"2009-04-18T18:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=652"},"modified":"2024-01-20T04:49:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T04:49:18","slug":"amazonfail-and-were-not-done-yet-links-and-perspectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/2009\/04\/18\/amazonfail-and-were-not-done-yet-links-and-perspectives\/","title":{"rendered":"#amazonfail and we&#8217;re not done yet: links and perspectives (UPDATED with new links)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/womensmediacenter.com\/images\/amazonfail.jpg\" alt=\"amazon.fail ... and you're done\" width=\"250\" height=\"74\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Update, April 21: added some additional links <a href=\"#morelinkshttp:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=652#morelinks\">here<\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Amazon&#8217;s stock has recovered, bouyed by Friday&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/businesstechnology\/2009076969_webamazon18.html\">report<\/a> that Kindle sales have exceeded expectations. Traffic on the #amazonfail hashtag is much lighter.\u00c2\u00a0 The auction for AmazonFail.com is over, at least for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>But I don&#8217;t think this issue&#8217;s going away quite that quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Right now it feels like everybody&#8217;s taking a step back and reflecting.\u00c2\u00a0 There&#8217;s general agreement on the narrative described in the National Coalition Against Censorship&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/ncacblog.wordpress.com\/2009\/04\/14\/amazonfail-explained-in-a-flowchart\/\">#amazonfail explained in a flowchart<\/a> and there&#8217;s a theme starting to emerge in the tweets on #amazonfail and blog posts:<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not over.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><a href=\"http:\/\/search.twitter.com\/search?q=%23amazonfail+(%40cshirky+OR+shirky)\">All the attention<\/a> being paid to <a href=\"http:\/\/search.twitter.com\/search?q=%23amazonfail+from%3Acshirky\">Clay Shirky&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shirky.com\/weblog\/2009\/04\/the-failure-of-amazonfail\/\">view<\/a> obscures the fact that most of the participants don&#8217;t see it that way.\u00c2\u00a0 Here are some perspectives that for some reason don&#8217;t seem to be getting as much visibility:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Storm Grant&#8217;s <a class=\"subj-link\" href=\"http:\/\/storm-grant.livejournal.com\/163596.html\">DEAR MR. BEZOS, I HAVE SOME HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS<\/a> on <em>The I of the Storm<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/amazonfaildotorg.wordpress.com\/2009\/04\/18\/the-amazonfail-backlash-is-an-lgbtd-issue\/\">The Amazon Backlash is an LGBTD issue<\/a> on <em>amazonfaildotorg.wordpress.com<\/em> (moving soon to <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazonfail.org\/\">http:\/\/www.amazonfail.org<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Sarah Zettel&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bscreview.com\/2009\/04\/things-that-don%E2%80%99t-go-away-tempest-in-a-tweet\/\">Tempest in a Tweet<\/a> on <em>Bookspot Central<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Janet D. Stemwedel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<a id=\"a117242\" href=\"http:\/\/scienceblogs.com\/ethicsandscience\/2009\/04\/morality_outrage_and_amazonfai.php\"> Morality, outrage, and #amazonfail: a reply to Clay Shirky<\/a> on <em>Adventures in Ethics and Science<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Francine Saint Marie&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.afterellen.com\/node\/48877\">Amazon &#8220;Glitch&#8221; Myth Debunked<\/a> on <em>After Ellen<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Em&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/notimpressed.wordpress.com\/2009\/04\/13\/about-amazonfail\/\">About #amazonfail and ableism<\/a> on<em> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m Just Not Impressed<br \/>\n<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Craig Seymour&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/craigspoplife.blogspot.com\/2009\/04\/my-amazonfail-timeline.html\">My AmazonFail timeline<\/a> on <em>Craig&#8217;s Pop Life<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Nadia Cooke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <a href=\"http:\/\/nadiacooke.wordpress.com\/2009\/04\/14\/on-the-resolution-of-amazonfail\/\">On the resolution of #amazonfail<\/a> on <em>The Ink Spectrum <\/em><\/li>\n<li>James Bridle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <a href=\"http:\/\/bookkake.com\/2009\/04\/16\/its-still-on-amazonfail-dubai\/\">It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Still On: The real failure of Amazonfail, Dubai, and Internet Outrage<\/a> on <em>Bookkake<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Mike Edwards&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/onearmedman.com\/node\/440\">Who failed with #amazonfail?<\/a><\/li>\n<li>my own <a href=\"http:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=623\">My Reply to Clay Shirky<\/a> on <em>Liminal States<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Bill Thompson&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/technology\/8000401.stm\">How Amazonfail was born<\/a> on the BBC<\/li>\n<li>Patrick&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.vromans.com\/amazonfail-the-cost-of-freedom\/\">#amazonfail and the cost of freedom<\/a> on <em>Vroman&#8217;s<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/news.bookweb.org\/6742.html\">ABA Offers Suggested Guidelines for Appropriate Responses to Amazon Policy<\/a>, <em>Bookselling this week<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Cheryl Morgan, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cheryl-morgan.com\/?p=4528\">#AmazonFail &#8212; where are we now?<\/a>, <em>Cheryl&#8217;s Mewsings<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Chris Walters, <a href=\"http:\/\/consumerist.com\/5213774\/amazon-can-ban-you-from-your-kindle-account-whenever-it-likes\">DRM: Amazon can ban you from your Kindle account whenver it likes<\/a> on <em>The Consumerist<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"morelinks\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">April 21: and &#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Avi Rappaport, <a href=\"http:\/\/newsbreaks.infotoday.com\/NewsBreaks\/Amazonfail-How-Metadata-and-Sex-Broke-the-Amazon-Book-Search-53507.asp\">Amazonfail: How Metadata and Sex Broke Amazon Book Search<\/a>, <em>Newsbreaks<\/em><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"byline\">Brianna Snyder, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hartfordadvocate.com\/article.cfm?aid=12660\">All-male review<\/a>, <em>Hartford Advertiser<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"byline\">Nancy Johnston, <a href=\"http:\/\/weblogs.baltimoresun.com\/entertainment\/books\/blog\/2009\/04\/what_ive_learned_from_amazonfa.html\">What I&#8217;ve learned from Amazonfail<\/a>, <em>Read Street<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"byline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fagadget.blogspot.com\/2009\/04\/amazonfail-success.html\">#amazonfail a success<\/a>, <em>Fagadget<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"byline\">Lisa, <a href=\"http:\/\/lisybabe.blogspot.com\/2009\/04\/amazonfail.html\">#amazonfail<\/a>, <em>Lisy Babe&#8217;s blog<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"byline\">Mary Hodder, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.techcrunch.com\/2009\/04\/14\/guest-post-why-amazon-didnt-just-have-a-glitch\/\">Why Amazon didn&#8217;t just have a glitch<\/a>, <em>TechCrunch<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Meanwhile in the mainstream world the backlash continues with Nick Carr&#8217;s analogizing the &#8220;hashmob&#8221; to a pillowfight etc. etc.\u00c2\u00a0 Whatever.<\/p>\n<h2>So many lenses &#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>Moving forward &#8230; now what?<\/p>\n<p>Especially in light of the backlash that attempts to rewrite history to reverse blame, characterize the activists as a &#8220;mob&#8221;, and turn the page on the &#8220;glitch&#8221; without addressing the deeper issues, I think it would be very valuable to collect and highlight the history as it happened.\u00c2\u00a0 More on that in a comment.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s so many things happening with #amazonfail that I find I have to look at it through multiple lenses to try to understand it.\u00c2\u00a0 The posts I link to include writers, publishers, lesbians, gays, queers, disability rights activists, feminists, independent bookstores, ethicists, and anti-DRMers.\u00c2\u00a0 All of those are important and to focus on any one as &#8220;the&#8221; issue risks marginalizing the others.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;d like to suggest a couple more lenses on the table as well.<\/p>\n<h2>It doesn&#8217;t look like a mob to me<\/h2>\n<p>One important one is &#8220;internet mobs&#8221;.\u00c2\u00a0 The <a href=\"http:\/\/works.bepress.com\/danielle_citron\/7\/\">abstract<\/a> of Danielle Citron&#8217;s recent <a href=\"http:\/\/digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1611&amp;context=fac_pubs\">Cyber civil rights<\/a> law review article makes the point that<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Social networking sites and blogs have increasingly become breeding grounds for anonymous online groups that attack women, people of color, and members of other traditionally disadvantaged groups. These destructive groups target individuals with defamation, threats of violence, and technology-based attacks that silence victims and concomitantly destroy their privacy&#8230;. Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cyber attack groups update a history of anonymous mobs coming together to victimize and subjugate vulnerable people. The social science literature identifies conditions that magnify dangerous group behavior and those that tend to defuse it. Unfortunately, Web 2.0 technologies accelerate mob behavior.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There&#8217;s no question that Twitter is an incredible accellerant.\u00c2\u00a0 There are a few examples of statements I see as defamatory or targeting an individual.\u00c2\u00a0 Overall, though, very little of this applies.\u00c2\u00a0 With #amazonfail, it&#8217;s activists from traditionally disadvantaged groups calling attention to how they&#8217;ve been silenced.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And neither &#8220;Support independent bookstores&#8221; and &#8220;Boycott Amazon&#8221; are &#8216;dangerous group behavior&#8217;; it&#8217;s consumers organizing to leverage their buying power against a large corporation &#8212; something that Clay talked about approvingly in his book. \u00c2\u00a0 Hmm.\u00c2\u00a0 Doesn&#8217;t seem like a mob to me.<\/p>\n<p>Danielle&#8217;s December 2007 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XVEL4RfN3uQ\"><strong>presentation<\/strong><\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Destructive Crowds: New Threats to Online Reputation and Privacy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has more background on this. <a href=\"http:\/\/cfp.wikia.com\/wiki\/Dealing_with_hate_speech%2C_flaming%2C_and_trolls\">Dealing with hate speech, flaming, and trolls<\/a> on the <em>Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2008 Wikia page<\/em> has a lot of related links, including the Kathy Sierra case.<\/p>\n<h2>Self-organizing in action<\/h2>\n<p>Another good lens for #amazonfail is the general context of Twitter-based activism.\u00c2\u00a0 #motrinmoms is the most obvious parallel; Joanne Bamberger&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.zdnet.com\/feeds\/?p=337\">Don&#8217;t call me a mommyblogger<\/a> is a good starting point, and I have a lot more links in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=279\">#MotrinMoms: from Twitter to the New York Times in 24 hours<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 More generally there are some intense debates about Twitter activism going on in the political space right now, for example with progressives&#8217; reactions to the perception that conservatives are dominant on Twitter, and #pman&#8217;s role in the ongoing protests in Moldova.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in this lens, there are zillions of links, along with my perspectives, in my guest-blogging series <a href=\"http:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=632\">Lessons from Skittles for poets and activists<\/a> on <em>The Seminal<\/em> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/p2pt0.wetpaint.com\/page\/Building+engaged+communities+that+act\">Building engaged communities that act presentation<\/a> that Tracy Viselli and I gave at the #nim09 have more.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.talesfromthe.net\/jon\/?p=561\">Twitter *is* a strategy (DRAFT)<\/a> and the comments are an attempt to sum it up to a higher level.<\/p>\n<p>Motrin Moms, #pman, the activism against the Facebook Terms of Service, Join the Impact, and Get FISA Right all self-organized within 48 hours.\u00c2\u00a0 It seems to me that #amazonfail did the same, discussing and preparing for purchase-shifting and potentially a boycott while waiting for more facts to emerge and giving Amazon time to respond.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A lot of the people involved are also connecting with each other, on Twitter and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;ll be interesting to see where this goes.<\/p>\n<p>Your thoughts?<\/p>\n<p>jon<\/p>\n<p>PS: thanks to @newlady1 for the suggestion of linking to Clay&#8217;s thoughts, and to Mia for the info about AmazonFail.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Update, April 21: added some additional links here Amazon&#8217;s stock has recovered, bouyed by Friday&#8217;s report that Kindle sales have exceeded expectations. Traffic on the #amazonfail hashtag is much lighter.\u00c2\u00a0 The auction for AmazonFail.com is over, at least for the time being. But I don&#8217;t think this issue&#8217;s going away quite that quickly. Right now [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[17,22,25,113,148,200,201,378],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tales-from-the-net","category-uncategorized","tag-amazonfail","tag-ableism","tag-activism","tag-diversity","tag-feminism","tag-lgbt","tag-lgbtq","tag-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4309,"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/4309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}