Social Movements as Information Ecologies: Exploring the Coevolution of Multiple Internet Technologies for Activism

Abstract

This article applies the information ecology framework to explore Aula C, the headquarters of an Italian student collective that is part of the Anomalous Wave movement. It draws on a multimodal ethnography that includes participant observation and 17 semistructured interviews. Findings highlight the interrelationships among actors, practices, and technologies that constitute a system characterized by diversity, in which members of radical tech groups act as keystone species. By pointing out the coexistence and coevolution of activists and their tools, this article tries to overcome theorizations that do not consider the whole media environment with which activists interact. The newest application, it is shown, may in fact not be the most used technology for activism.