Exercises: Online activism and communities

Explain what an online citizen petition is, and what the difference is between signing it knowingly and merely posting an outraged comment on social media.

Name two forms of cyber-volunteering that someone of your age could do, and explain what each contributes to the community.

The figure summarises the workflow of an open-source software community.

One of the stages is covered with a question mark. State what happens in that stage for the cycle to continue, and explain an advantage of this creation model compared to a closed program.

Explain what a solidarity hackathon is (for example, a weekend spent creating apps for NGOs) and what someone who does not yet know how to program can contribute to the team: ideas, design, testing, or documentation.

Explain the difference between finding out about a cause and campaigning for it, and reason why the first step for a good digital activist is to verify that the cause and its data are real.

Name three real causes in which people of your age have participated online (climate, local accessibility in your town, defending libraries or public spaces) and describe the specific digital action they carried out.

Explain what digital volunteering for translating and subtitling educational content involves, who benefits from it, and what the collaborator learns.

Explain why an online community needs clear rules and moderators, what usually happens in an unmoderated forum, and what three basic rules you would set for a study group.

Students at a middle school want to get more shaded areas in the schoolyard. Design a realistic digital campaign: which channel you would use to gather support, what evidence you would provide, to whom you would address the proposal, and how you would remain respectful in the face of criticism.

Explain what an open-source software community is, what it means for anyone to be able to study and improve the code, and what a person who collaborates without getting paid gains in return.

A neighbourhood group organises a park clean-up on social media, and the post ends up filled with unrelated political insults. Analyse how to maintain the initiative's objective, what moderation rules you would set, and why the tone of the conversation affects participation.

An online petition asks for your national ID number to 'validate your signature'. Explain what you would check before giving it (who is collecting the signatures, whether it is a trusted platform, its data privacy policy) and what the risks are of giving away that piece of data on a random website.

Your class wants to create a collaborative map of accessibility in your neighbourhood (ramps, pedestrian crossings without sound signals, obstacles). Define what data to collect at each point, using which collaborative tool, under what license to publish it, and to whom to deliver the result so that it is useful.

A company creates hundreds of fake accounts that 'support' a cause convenient for it (astroturfing). Explain how this artificial support can be detected (repeated messages, newly created accounts, strange posting times), how it differs from genuine support, and why it poisons civic participation.

You want to donate five pesos to a cause. Compare donating to a registered NGO with donating to a viral 'fundraiser' organized by a stranger: what checks would you make in each case (register, annual activity report, whose name the account is under) before handing over the money?

Large open-source software communities have codes of conduct. Explain why a technical project needs social rules, what problems they solve (contempt towards newcomers, harassment, endless arguments), and draft three articles for the code of conduct of a school tech club.

Compare two online initiatives: one gathers two hundred thousand signatures in a week and falls into oblivion; another gathers two thousand signatures, submits them with a report to the local municipality, and follows up over a year. Analyze which factors turn digital support into real change.

Your high school needs to replace the 60 computers in the Technology classroom. Two options are presented:

• Option A: Purchase proprietary commercial brand computers for 320.00 pesos each. They have non-standard parts, sealed cases, and the manufacturer only guarantees support and parts for 3 years.

• Option B: Acquire modular computers based on open-source hardware schematics for 350.00 pesos each. They use standard off-the-shelf components and open assembly and repair documentation that allows parts to be repaired and upgraded right in the school's workshop.

Evaluate both alternatives by comparing their impact on the school's technological sovereignty and on e-waste reduction (sustainability) over an 8-year horizon. Reasonably justify which one the school council should choose and point out a practical drawback or real technical limitation that Option B would entail.

Marcos, aged 14, has started a digital campaign denouncing illegal dumping into his municipality's stream. He has recorded videos with his phone showing his face and his school uniform, posts from his open personal profile on social media, and has added a link to a public messaging group where anyone can join to "organize pickets against those responsible". He has started receiving intimidating messages and requests from unknown adults.

1. a) Identify and justify the three critical digital and physical security mistakes made by Marcos.
2. b) Design a four-step immediate safe action plan that allows him to reorganize the campaign: protect his identity and that of his peers without abandoning the environmental protest.

Design a digital campaign against food waste in the school canteen: measurable goal, two dissemination channels, three pieces of content, how to get student support, and how to present the results to the school management so that the measure is maintained.

Over four weeks, Carla monitored notifications for charitable causes and petition drives on her social media: she received an average of 18 alerts per day about extremely serious and urgent issues from around the world. During the first week, she signed and shared everything (spending about 20 seconds per cause); by the end of the month, overwhelmed, she turned off notifications and stopped volunteering even with her local neighborhood food bank.

1. a) Interpret the data from Carla's experience and, based on her behavior, explain the concept of "compassion fatigue" and its relationship with superficial activism.
2. b) Design a selective digital action strategy for Carla: define three objective criteria to screen the causes she receives and propose a plan with two deep-engagement actions that demonstrate why prioritizing one cause does not mean giving up on the others.

At 10:00 AM, the hashtag #ProhibidoJugar becomes the number one trending topic on a social network in your city with 12,000 posts. Analyzing the traffic data, you notice that 80 % of the posts come from profiles created within the last 72 hours, with no profile picture, with strings of numbers in their usernames, posting bursts of the exact same message every 1.5 seconds. At the same time, a local neighborhood mobilization asking for shade in public parks, which gathers 3,000 signatures and videos from real families, does not appear on the trending list.

1. a) Explain what technical mechanisms are being used to manipulate the trends and distinguish in this case between an organic trend and an "astroturfing" operation (artificial manipulation).
2. b) As a responsible user, justify what two algorithmic audit data points and what technical moderation measure you would demand from the platform to guarantee the transparency of its trending topics.

A group of activists wants to protest against a company that sells video games with aggressive microtransactions aimed at minors. To put pressure on the company, they discuss taking these three actions:

1. Coordinate thousands of users to saturate the company's servers through a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that disables its website over a weekend.

2. Spread on social networks the name, home address, and mobile phone number of the company's CEO (doxxing).

3. Publish a documented technical report with application code screenshots, demonstrating the dark patterns used, and file a formal complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).

Determine for each of the three actions whether it is a legitimate form of protest or if it constitutes a crime/legal infraction, justifying the legal framework that is violated in each case and explaining why the first two actions seriously harm the very cause they defend.

The department of education of an autonomous community must decide the future of the virtual learning environment used by 200,000 students:

• Proprietary Proposal: Renew the license of a proprietary platform from a big tech company. It costs 4.50 pesos per student per year, includes external support, but the code is secret and the data is processed in data centers subject to foreign regulations.

• Open Proposal: Migrate to an audited open-source platform ("public money, public code"). It requires an initial investment in training and infrastructure of 6.00 pesos per student in the first year, but the subsequent licensing cost is 0,00, pesos the code is auditable, and the data is hosted on local public servers.

1. a) Rebut the common argument stating that "closed software is more secure than open software because it hides the code, so attackers cannot see the flaws".
2. b) Justify which of the two proposals the educational authorities should choose based on the principles of technological sovereignty, control of student data, and long-term economic sustainability.