Having a shared pool of hashtags is a way of creating social cohesion and action - a way for people to find each other and talk across #silos. It is a #DIY “search” system, but only if people actually use and share the language.
The #OMN use of hashtags is mostly #nothingnew. I take existing ideas, connect them to outcomes, and create shorthand for conversations that already exist. Examples:
#deathcult = neoliberalism, with the understanding of the real-world outcomes. The metaphor connects a political mindset with its consequences. The historical reference comes from the Irish potato famine - reminder of what happens when a mindset becomes #mainstreaming and millions of people are treated as expendable.
#Geekproblem = a critique of a strand of 20th-century modernism when technical thinking becomes dogmatic. The problem is not “geeks” or technology itself - there is a good side to modernism. The problem is losing the social nuance and turning everything into a technical problem.
#stupidindividualism = thinking about the balance between self and society. It is an outcome of the #deathcult and a symptom of the #geekproblem - the idea that everything can be reduced to isolated individuals instead of relationships and communities.
Could go on…
The point is not the hashtag itself. The point is building shared language, so people recognise patterns, connect ideas and work across the current #blocking silos.
#OMN #4opens #openweb
#OMN (Open Media Network)
witchescauldron
hamish campbell
