
A professor who got inside Anonymous - soundsop
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2014/09/14/a_tribe_called_anonymous_meet_gabriella_coleman_anthropologist_of_hackers_and_geeks.html
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davidu
Whenever a news story refers to Anonymous as a group, you know that the author
has a terrible misunderstanding of Anonymous.

And whenever you see an expert refer to Anonymous as a group, you know that
they are either being misquoted, or are also full of BS.

Since we know Biella isn't full of BS based on her past work, I'm hoping she
is being misquoted and her story is being taken out of context or just blown
up a bit in advance of her book.

There is no single group called Anonymous. It's the banner loosely knit groups
of hackers use out of convenience. Some are organized for long periods of
time, some are individuals who want a flag to fly. And the ethos is so
similar, that a common flag makes sense.

~~~
skrebbel
Actually, there's a chance both you and the professor are correct. To an
anthropologist, the word "group" might mean something closer to "subculture"
than "organization".

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wpietri
Circa a decade ago I was doing a little coding for a group that worked out of
the SF EFF offices. It was there I met a bright young grad student studying
online communities and online activists. It has been so long that I forget the
details of our short conversations, but I do remember that I was really
impressed. She was somebody who was dedicated to understanding our culture and
the technology that shapes it.

It's great to see how far she has progressed. I encourage people to look past
the inevitable issues with a general-audience newspaper article and read some
of her actual work. Her website is a good place to start:
[http://gabriellacoleman.org/](http://gabriellacoleman.org/)

~~~
kaybe
I've heard the argument that it is not a good idea to encourage deep
understanding of online activists and hacker culture by institutions because
it might give outside forces a handle to control and influence it (in a
negative way).

While there are also good arguments for the other side it is something that
should at least be considered, IMHO.

~~~
wpietri
Well, presumably the really sinister outside forces can bring to bear a lot
more resources than one nerd-friendly anthro professor. The upside for me is
in public understanding. The vast bulk of humanity has no idea what to make of
Anonymous other than seeing it as vaguely sinister. We fear what we don't
understand.

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pstrateman
Steps to getting inside Anonymous.

1) Join correct irc channel

There is no step 2.

~~~
bsamuels
what was it like to talk to hackers on steroids?

~~~
Thesaurus
Bought a dog.

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blueskin_
>got inside Anonymous

Stopped reading here. Anonymous isn't some organisation with a membership
process. Go on 4chan or join one of any number of IRC channels and you too can
'get inside Anonymous'.

Stuff like this is nearly as bad as that "Who is this Four Chan person?"[1] TV
news piece.

[1][http://www.themarysue.com/who-is-this-for-chan-person-
anyway...](http://www.themarysue.com/who-is-this-for-chan-person-anyway/)

