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Computer Enabled Social Movements? Usage of a Collaborative Web Platform within the European Social Forum

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Abstract

Networks of social activists traditionally lack financial and human resources, resulting in low interest in employing sophisticated IT. There are not many studies describing the development and use of computer systems for networks of social activists. Especially with regard to web 2.0 applications, it is interesting to analyze how social activists appropriate social web platforms. In this paper we describe the usage of a collaborative platform called “OpenESF” by social activists taking part in the European Social Forum. The results of this study will provide us with an understanding of the needs of social activists for effective computer support and highlight directions for the redesign of OpenESF.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are 30 private projects whose data is only visible to the administrator. So in our paper we will discuss the statistics of 167 projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Siegen, Hölderlin Str. 3, 57076, Siegen, Germany

    Saqib Saeed & Markus Rohde

Authors
  1. Saqib Saeed
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  2. Markus Rohde
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Correspondence to Saqib Saeed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , ICD/Tech-CICO Fre CNRS 2848, Universite de Technologie de Troyes, rue Marie Curie 12, Troyes Cedex, 10010, France

    Myriam Lewkowicz

  2. IEP, rue Gaston de Saporta 25, Aix-en-Provence, 13625, France

    Parina Hassanaly

  3. , Information Systems and New Media, University of Siegen, Hölderlinstr. 3, Siegen, 57068, Germany

    Volker Wulf

  4. , Information Systems and New Media, University of Siegen, Hoelderlinstr. 3, siegen, 57068, Germany

    Markus Rohde

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Saeed, S., Rohde, M. (2010). Computer Enabled Social Movements? Usage of a Collaborative Web Platform within the European Social Forum. In: Lewkowicz, M., Hassanaly, P., Wulf, V., Rohde, M. (eds) Proceedings of COOP 2010. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-211-7_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-211-7_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84996-210-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84996-211-7

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