Questionnaire OccupyMedia! Survey * This survey

Questionnaire
OccupyMedia! Survey
* This survey is part of a study of the media use of contemporary social movements.
The research is carried out by scholars at Uppsala University’s Department of
Informatics and Media.
* If you are an Occupy activists in any part of the world, you can help us creating
interesting knowledge by participating in the survey.
* The study does not have any commercial purposes and the involved researchers
do not have any monetary benefits by conducting the study.
* Completing the survey takes around 20 minutes.
* You can help making this dataset large, interesting and a success by participating
yourself and forwarding the survey link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WG7JRG2
to other activists you know.
For starting the survey, please click on the button at the end of the page.
Further information about the survey is available below. If you have further questions,
please contact us.
The OccupyMedia! Survey Team
By participating in this survey, you agree and give informed consent that the answers
you give are stored in digital form in a database in such a way that you are not
personally identifiable (anonymisation), that these data are analysed for purely
academic purposes and that the results of the analysis are published as part of
research reports, academic articles and book chapters. Furthermore you agree that
the data will be published as open data on the Internet so that they are available to
the general public.
There is a lot of talk about media use in contemporary occupations, protests, social
movements and revolutions - especially concerning online and social media. Some
talk about Twitter or Facebook revolutions, others say that such media do not have
real importance because protests take place on streets and squares. All of this is
highly speculative. The question is: What is the real role of media in contemporary
occupations, revolutions and protests? We can only find this out by conducting some
research about this question. And this is exactly the purpose of this survey. You can
contribute to finding answers to this important question by completing an online
questionnaire.
The results will be published in the form of a report that will be made available to the
public and as research papers based on the survey. Furthermore, the collected data
will be published in anonymous form as open data on the Internet.
For generating insights about the media use of contemporary protest movements, a
significant number of respondents is needed. Therefore we require the help of
Occupy activists for this study. IIt is a tremendous help for us, if you also inform other
activists about this survey.
The open data will not contain any personal identifiers (such as name, IP address,
email, etc), which is data that we are not interested to collect and publish.
Please only complete the survey once.
A news article that talks a little bit about the background of this survey and why social
media research matters is available on the Occupy News Network:
Christian Fuchs: Why Social Media Research Matters for Occupy
http://occupynewsnetwork.co.uk/why-social-media-research-matters-for-occupy/
If you have any questions, then please contact:
Prof. Christian Fuchs
Uppsala University
Department of Informatics and Media
[email protected]
Phone +46 18 471 1019
By clicking on the button below, you agree to the survey terms and that you want to
participate in the survey.
2 Q1
Have you ever participated in any activities of the Occupy movement?
O Yes.
O No.
[single choice]
[If the answer option is “No”, the survey ends]
3 Q2
Thinking about the Occupy movement, how often have you participated in any of the
following activities:
- Marched in a protest
- Visited an Occupy camp
- Stayed over night in an Occupy camp
- Participated in a General Assembly
- Spoke or expressed an opinion in an Occupy General Assembly
- Organized a protest event
- Got arrested
[Answer options: 0 Never, 1-3 times, 4-6 times, 7-9 times, More often]
4 Q3
In which country have you predominantly participated in the Occupy movement?
[Answer options: Drop-down list of all countries in the world]
5 Q4
And in which city did your activism predominantly take place?
[Answer options: New York, London, Other (please specify)]
Other city: _________________________
6 Q5
On political matters, people talk of "the left" and "the right". How would you place
your views on this scale, generally speaking? (Scale):
[Answer options:
Left
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Right
10]
7 Q6
Can you please define what the Occupy movement is for you? Try to think about the
movement’s activists, adversaries, goals, strategies, actions, political worldviews and
its context in society.
For me, the Occupy movement is … (please complete)
______________________
8 Q7
Which of the following sentences describe in your opinion the Occupy movement
best (multiple answers are possible)
O The Occupy movement is a class struggle movement.
O The Occupy movement is an anti-capitalist movement.
O The Occupy movement is predominantly a socialist movement.
OThe Occupy movement is predominantly a liberal movement.
O The Occupy movement is predominantly a movement that struggles for the
common control of wealth and society.
O The Occupy movement is predominantly a right-wing movement.
O The Occupy movement is a form of social movement that is different from the
working class movement, comparable to movements such as the ecological
movement, the feminist movement or anti-racist movements.
O The Occupy movement is a networked social movement.
[multiple choice question]
9 Q8
Which of the following statements describes best your opinion on the role of social
media (such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, N-1, Diaspora*, Occupii) in the Occupy
movement?
O Social media created the Occupy movement.
O Protests and revolutions are made by humans who struggle in society, not by
media or technologies. Media do not play a major role in the movement.
O The Occupy movement is a social protest movement. Social media are tools of
struggle, but also tools of domination. What the effects of social media are for
Occupy and society depends on the outcome of power struggles.
O The Occupy movement is both a social media rebellion and a rebellion in society.
Additional comment: ________________________
[single choice question]
10 Q9
If you think back to a month, in which you were involved in Occupy protests, then
how often did you use any of the following media for informing yourself about the
protests and the occupation?
- Personal conversations
- Television
- Radio
- Mainstream newspapers
- Leaflets distributed at demonstrations and occupations
- Newspapers of the Occupy movement
- Posters
- SMS
- Phone calls
- Personal eMails
- eMail mailing lists
- One of the Occupy movement’s live video streams
- One of the Occupy movement’s web sites
- Tumblr blog “We are the 99 percent”
- The Occupy Wall Street Page on reddit
- Twitter
- Facebook
- YouTube
- The Occupy wiki (http://wiki.occupy.net)
- Other (please specify below)
[Answer options: 0 Never, 1-3 times, 4-6 times, 7-9 times, More often]
Other (please specify): ______________________
11 Q10
If you think back to a month, in which you were involved in Occupy protests, then
how often did you yourself or together with others create content about the Occupy
movement that you shared online?
- I created a YouTube video about the movement
- I took pictures and shared them on Flickr
- I took pictures and shared them in a Facebook Occupy group
- I took videos and shared them on Facebook
- I shared pictures on an alternative social networking site (e.g. Diaspora*, N-1,
Occuppii, TheGlobalSquare)
- I took videos and shared them on an alternative social networking site (e.g.
Diaspora*, N-1, Occuppii, TheGlobalSquare)
- I wrote a blog post about the Occupy movement on my own blog
- I wrote a blog post or news entry for an Occupy website
- I contributed to the Occupy wiki (http://wiki.occupy.net)
- I helped setting up or maintaining an Occupy live video stream
- I posted an image story on the Tumblr blog “We are the 99 percent”
(http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/)
- I posted news on the occupywallstreet-page of the social news service reddit
(http://www.reddit.com/r/occupywallstreet/ )
- I helped programming software that was used by the Occupy movement
- I helped designing websites of the Occupy movement
- I worked as administrator of an Occupy website
- I helped creating podcasts (e.g. for Occupy Radio),
- I helped creating a newspaper for the movement (e.g. Occupied Wall Street
Journal, Occupied Times of London, Occupied Chicago Tribute, DC Mic Check, etc),
- I worked in one of the movements’ news service (e.g. Occupy News Network,
member of an Occupy press group),
- I helped creating online guidelines for protest practices (e.g. on
http://howtooccupy.org/)
- Other (please specify below)
[Answer options: 0 Never, 1-3 times/month, 4-6 times/month, 7-9 times/month, More
often]
Other: _________________
12 Q11
If you think back to a month, in which you were involved in Occupy protests, then
how often did you use any of the following media for communicating or discussing
the protests with other activists?
- Personal conversation
- SMS
- Phone calls
- Personal eMails
- eMail mailing lists
- One of the Occupy movement’s chats
- Twitter
- Facebook group
- YouTube comments
- Riseup communication tools (http://www.riseup.net)
- InterOccupy teleconferences
- OccupyTalk voice chat
- Other (please specify below)
[Answer options: 0 Never, 1-3 times, 4-6 times, 7-9 times, More often]
Other: _________________
13 Q12
If you think back to a month, in which you were involved in Occupy protests, then
how often did you engage in certain media activities for trying to mobilise people for a
protest event, discussion, demonstration or the occupation of a square, building,
house or other space?
- I had personal conversations face to face with friends and my contacts in order to
mobilise them
- I sent an e-mail message to personal contacts
- I made a phone call to personal contacts
- I sent an SMS message to contacts
- I used an eMail mailing list for announcements
- I posted an announcement on my own Facebook profile
- I posted an announcement on Facebook friends’ profile
- I posted an announcement in an Occupy group on Facebook
- I posted an announcement on Twitter
- I created an announcement video on YouTube
- I posted an announcement on my own profile of the social networking site Occupii
- I posted an announcement on the profile of my friends on the social networking site
Occupii
- I posted an announcement in an Occupy group of the social networking site Occupii
- I posted an announcement on my own profile of the social networking site N-1
- I posted an announcement on the profile of my friends on the social networking site
N-1
- I posted an announcement in an Occupy group of the social networking site N-1
- I posted an announcement on my own profile of the social networking site
Diaspora*
- I posted an announcement on the profile of my friends on the social networking site
Diaspora*
- I posted an announcement in an Occupy group of the social networking site
Diaspora*
- I wrote an announcement on a blog
- I informed people on meetup.com
- I informed people by using one of the movement’s online chats
- I posted an announcement on one of the movement’s discussion forums
- I made an announcement with the help of a Riseup tool (http://www.riseup.net, chat,
e-mail mailing lists)
- I made an announcement with the help of an InterOccupy teleconference
(http://interoccupy.net),
- I made an announcement with the help of the OccupyTalk voice chat
(www.occupytalk.org)
- Other (please specify below)
[Answer options: 0 Never, 1-3 times, 4-6 times, 7-9 times, More often]
Other: _________________
14 Q13
The Occupy movement both uses commercial Internet platforms (Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, reddit, Tumblr, Meetup) and has created its own digital media platforms or
used alternative, non-commercial platforms (such as Diaspora*, N-1, Occupii,
TheGlobalSquare, InterOccupy teleconferences, OccupyTalk voice chat, etc).
In your opinion, does the Occupy movement’s use of commercial Internet platforms
(such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, reddit, Tumblr, Meetup) for the purposes of
the Occupy movement entail risks? If so, which ones?
Answer: ____________________________
15 Q14
Have you experienced problems in this respect? If so, which ones?
Answer: _____________________
16 Q15
In your opinion, does the Occupy movement’s use of commercial Internet platforms
(such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, reddit, Tumblr, Meetup) have advantages
compared to the use of alternative, non-commercial platforms? If so, which ones?
Answer: ______________________
17 Q16
In your opinion, does the Occupy movement’s use of alternative, non-commercial
Internet platforms (such as Diaspora*, N-1, Occupii, TheGlobalSquare, InterOccupy
teleconferences, OccupyTalk voice chat, etc) pose advantages compared to the use
of commercial platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, etc)? If so,
which ones?
Answer: _________________________
18 Q17
In your opinion, does the use and maintenance of alternative, non-commercial
Internet platforms pose problems or limits for the Occupy movement? If so, which
ones?
Answer: _____________________________
19 Q18
As you may know, commercial social media platforms (such as YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter, etc) fund their operations and make profit by the use of a business model
that is based on targeted advertising and the monitoring and selling of user data.
Social movement media that are not controlled by companies, but by a movement
like Occupy, need certain resources (work time, editors, hardware, software,
reporters, etc) for their operation. What do you think is the best way for organising
the necessary resources in order to run an alternative online service like Occupii or
TheGlobalSquare?
O I think the best model is the use of a commercial model that uses targeted
advertising like Facebook and Google.
O I think the best model is that the state provides public funding for social movement
media.
O I think the best model is that there is a donation-based model, where users,
activists and citizens are asked to voluntarily donate money.
O I think the best model is that there are usage fees, but that the platform is only
allowed to fund its operations with these fees, but not to make a profit
O I think the best model is that there are usage fees and that the platform is allowed
to make a profit from these fees.
O None of the above (please specify below)
[single choice question]
Something different (please specify): __________________________
20 Q19
You have indicated that you think a donations based organisation model for social
movement online media is the best one. Which amount would you be willing to
donate per month in total for alternative, non-commercial online media that are
operated by a social movement like Occupy? Please specify.
___ Euros
___ US$
___ GBP
[This question is only shown to respondents who selected the answer option “I think
the best model is that there is a donation-based model, where users, activists and
citizens are asked to voluntarily donate money” in Q18]
21 Q20
For protests, protest media are needed. Such media can only exist if people work for
them as media activists. Often this work is voluntary and unpaid. Do you think it were
a good idea to pay those people who take care of the press/news work, websites,
software, live video streams, newspapers.
O No, I think social movement media work should always be voluntary and unpaid.
O Yes, I think one should find ways for paying these people because I believe this
can improve a protest movement’s visibility in the public
O Other (please specify below).
[single choice question]
Other: ________________________
22 Q21
You have indicated that you think the work of media activists in protest movements
should be paid. What do you think is the best way for being able to pay them?
O To collect voluntary donations from activists and those who sympathise with the
movement.
O That the state provides public funding for social movement’s media projects.
O That social movements turn their media projects into a profitable
business/company that uses advertising as business model.
O That social movements operate their media as a self-managed non-commercial
and non-profit cooperative that sells memberships, but is not allowed to make a
profit.
O That social movements operate their media by selling access to these media, but
only for funding employees and not for making a monetary profit.
O Other. Please specify.
[single choice question]
[This question is only shown to respondents who selected the answer option “Yes, I
think one should find ways for paying these people because I believe this can
improve a protest movement’s visibility in the public” in Q20]
Other: _________________________
23 Final screen:
Thanks a lot for participating in this survey.
Analyses of the results will be made available in subsequent publications and as a
summary on the website http://fuchs.uti.at/. You can follow the NetPoliticsBlog
(http://fuchs.uti.at/blog/), where the availability of analyses will be announced. This
will probably take some time.
The data will be published as open data on the Internet.
24