DigiActive.org

21st Century Segregation: Google Reviews and an e-Boycott

Background: On July 9, news broke on NBC Philadelphia that the Valley Swim Club had discriminated against summer camp groups because they had African-American members. The campers were asked to leave the club when they came to use the pool and their money was refunded.

The President of the Valley Swim Club responded with the following video:

Swim_Club_President_Talks__Racial_Comments.html

Swim_Club_President_Talks__Gives_Apology.html

The club sustains that the children were turned away due to overcrowding, not racial composition.

How these tools are being used: This club was listed in Google Maps as a business, but did not have any reviews until the controversy. Now it has over 125 reviews, with the overwhelming majority being negative reviews. A pattern emerged were positive reviews were voted down, and negative reviews voted up. This is a new type of boycott, where a business is targeted through their online presence on Google, one of the most popular crowd-sourced business review sites.

In addition, the reviews were used to convey useful information, in the style usually reserved for Twitter or blogs. For example, one comment seems to support the arguments of both sides of the controversy: there probably was no racial animosity on the part of the management but that the lack of racism the management claims is probably disingenuous:

I worked here for about a month and I really liked the people and the place was always clean and organized, but I can tell you that the surrounding community is generally racist. The management of the club was surely under pressure from the majority of their customers, and no, I’m not excusing them at all. This is not uncommon is this particular community… you will find the same thing in local bars and stores. African Americans followed, neglected or otherwise harassed until they leave). I wish I could give them a higher rating, but there’s no excuse for racism in these supposedly enlightened times.

http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=118012252010721318550&hl=en&gl=us

As a result of the controversy, the club blanked their website with a brief statement denying the affair. However their website, including contact information, is archived in the Wayback Machine, and so this information was made available in forums and other social internet media.

Analysis: I think it is an interesting use of Google Reviews, and while there doesn’t seem to be any organized effort, and that this is entirely impromptu, there might be a lesson here to future activist efforts around boycotts. In particular, the voting pattern is very similar to that of social-bookmarking sites like Digg, were activists for Ron Paul and Barack Obama consistently managed to get their candidate’s articles to the featured page – which means that the experiences from social-bookmarking can be applied to e-boycotts in social-review sites.

I also found it very interesting as a creative use of technology the use of the reviews to convey information, there might be lessons here for activists facing lack of social tools due to access constraints.

Screen Capture of the Wayback Machine search

Lastly, in an already classic move, the club deleted their page with a statement, but online communities quickly found and disseminated the archived version in the ever handy Wayback Machine. There is an old lesson here: once out in the web, in all probability it cannot be undone – all one has to do is look.

Valley Swim Club's webpage from archive

Tags: Google Maps, racism, segregation, USA, Valley Swim Club, waybackmachine
Posted in Americas, Campaigns, Discussion Boards, Mashups | 1 Comment »

Campaign: saving a cinema in the Canary Islands

Description: The Victor Cinema in the city of Tenerife in the Canary Islands is in danger of being closed and a group of people dedicated to the theater, Asamblea para la Defensa del Cine Victor (Assembly to Defend the Victor Cinema), is organizing online to save it.

Digital Activism Tools: web site (http://noalcierredelcinevictor.com) with notices about upcoming actions, a petition, an about page, and a forum to encourage community

How These Tools Are Being Used: I’m not sure if this group of activists read Blog for a Cause! (which is available in Spanish…) but it sure seems like the did. They understand that the purpose of their site is to inform a community about their issue and then mobilize that community to act for their cause. They inform people through notices about upcoming actions and a latest news page. They attempt to build community (particularly interactive discussion about their cause) but creating a forum, and then they mobilize that community by posting notices about upcoming actions on their site.  (Although they used Joomla to create a web site around their cause, it would be equally easy to build their site on a free blog platform like Wordpress.)

Outcome: It is unclear whether or not the Victor Cinema will close.

Hat-tip: videoarte en canarias

Campaign: Online Anticorruption Movement in Azerbaijan

Description of Campaign: In 2004, a group of students in Azerbaijan decided to create a new web resource to speak up against corruption in the education sector. At Azerbaijani universities, it is not uncommon for students to buy grades and for the admissions process to be influenced by connections over competence

Digital Activism Tools: Website, petition, digital photographs, discussion board.

How These Tools are Being Used : On the web site, www.rushvedeyox.de (which translates to “say no to corruption” and has since been taken down), an online petition section served to collect petitions and submit to government officials on behalf of students. Within few weeks, thousands of students signed the petition. A section of the website included information about negative effects of bribery for students, for their future careers.

“For the sake of Azerbaijan’s future, say NO to corruption”

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