Though the Occupy camp in front of city hall has been evicted, its ideas live on in a series of lectures on campus.
Jim Gilbert-Walsh of St. Thomas University’s philosophy department presented his lecture The Attack of the Trolls: Occupy, Ideology and Social Media on Jan. 24.
Addressing the room of about 42 people, Gilbert-Walsh discussed how ideologies shape social movements, and the role social media can play.
A troll, Gilbert-Walsh said, is someone who provokes people by saying something contrary to their views. At times, he noticed trolls trying to disrupt conversations on the Occupy groups on Facebook. He added that trolls are not limited to the internet.
“Trolls pull us into overstepping the bounds of our knowledge,” he said.
Gilbert-Walsh called social media a double-edged sword. He said the Arab Spring wouldn’t have been the same without social media. It was used to record aggressive police, and to plan get-togethers, among other things.
“There’s a lot of value in social media, for sure,” he said, adding the Occupy movement used social media effectively. He said the Occupy movement took things one step further, by occupying space with their bodies, and not just maintaining a Facebook presence.
The downside, said Gilbert-Walsh, is that social media can be shallow. It can isolate people by making them feel they’re engaged with others, even if they’re not. By limiting their actions solely to the computer, people may have the impression they are still involved.
He also said some people may confuse being informed and learning about issues with being entertained, meaning once initial interest and media coverage of the issue wears off, people think it’s no longer relevant.
Another issue, Gilbert-Walsh said, is that excessive use of social media can cause other skills to deteriorate. When people are focused on screens, they can lose the ability to focus on other activities or to think clearly about some issues.
“We’re gaining one skill, but losing another,” he said, adding this view can be controversial.
The Occupy lectures are a continuation of the teach-ins held in November at the Occupy camp outside city hall. They aim to raise awareness about social inequality issues in New Brunswick. The lectures take place every Tuesday and Saturday and are open to the public. A full list of the lectures, times and locations is available on the STU website.
