Occupy Movement

The first occupy movement began on Wall Street in September 17th 2011. Over the next three weeks areas became occupied in 951 cities throughout 82 countries. While the movement first occurred on Wall Street the idea of occupying a public space arose earlier in the year with the Arab Springs movement. In the milled east, the oppression democracy drove citizens into the public areas to protest while the occupy movement was driven by the state of unequal distribution of resources that existed globally. With similar a set uneven resource distribution internationally and the use of the internet the conditions were right for the occupy movement to spread globally.

Currently there is enough food, water, clothing, and shelter in the world to

One of the main ideas of occupy was that the movement was an active process. No specific demands were made or message was trying to be sent. Rather an alternative reality was discussed (Castells). The movement was criticized my sections of the media for having no clear goals or leadership. This was intended as at the occupy locations the protesters would discuss the situation that had brought them to the site and examine the ways beneficial change was possible. Since this movement was based on active involvement the passive slacktivism did not aid the visual aspect of occupying public space where the movement had fluctuating aims based on its makeup. Along with discussion came a connection within the protesters. This allowed grievances to be shared easily (Howard & Hussian). This connection was vital to keep the protesters involved. As important as the internet was in sharing information it could not create the same strong ties that personal interactions could

In the case of occupy there was no formally organization to try to lower the costs of joining or being part of the movement and without a fixed goal it was hard to see a tangible goal for the protesters. Yet people flooded public spaces to protest. The internet showed this was happing and allowed cases of students being pepper sprayed go viral but the costs of joining the movement stayed the same. McCarthy & Zald focused on the preferences in society as the growing case of income inequality had caused people to seek change.

Occupy used the internet to coordinate events and connect the movement globally. Hashtags such as “#Occupy” filled twiter and slogans like “we are the 99%” were started on Tumblr’s blog page. The people who saw the movement in internet sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Internet Relay Chat, and Meetup were able to organize themselves without a group and leader. This meant moments could start anywhere as there were no limitations in organization as all leaders and direction from higher up was not