2012: The Year That Movements Go Mainstream?

This is exciting. I feel like the dreams of the internet are coming to life. It is allowing us to self-organise and hold democracy to account. These movements are happening everywhere.<p>My dad and his fellow surgeons were able to bend their private health-insurer over a barrel with large CC'd email. The insurer kept claiming that other surgeons they worked with were lowering their prices so one surgeon just emailed all the others and a <i>movement</i> was started. Every time the insurer tried to pressure one surgeon into buckling he would email the encounter to the list and instantly receive messages of support (<i>The south-east is strong!</i> - <i>Scotland will not let the side down</i> etc..). None of these surgeons are particularly computer-literate or internet-aware and yet they found a really convenient and powerful way to self-organise and beat a profit-focussed insurer. Win.<p>This is really exciting.

I don't believe the Mayans, but I do think that 2012 is going to be a huge year.<p>For one, the Occupy movement is going to rise back up in some form in the spring and will be an interesting juxtaposition to the campaign fever in the U.S. I don't know if the social network idea is going to catch fire, but something on the internet interesting is going to happen in this regard.<p>Also, the Reddit/SOPA idea is an interesting one (Paul Ryan is great choice). A lot of people have learned from the GoDaddy fiasco that boycotts organized on the internet can work. This year we've also seen people moving their money to credit unions and now a boycott of Comcast.<p>Next year there may also be a conclusion to the Assange case that may jump off another round of hacktivism and let's see how far the Stratfor hack goes.<p>Overall I'd say 2012 is the year that the internet really becomes more than talking to your friends, email and buying and consuming crap. Two generations of people that grew up on the 'net will overwhelm the rest that don't understand it.

The parallel thing I see happing is the strengthening of subcultures. Although the internet is bringing the world closer together, it also seems to be allowing like minded people to build lasting subcultures. Reddit has several of these. This is a pattern I have seen a lot. These subcultures might have sprung up before but after the initial enthusiasm dies out, the subculture moves on. Now, it seems that these subcultures persist and keep growing, building group identity, language, and camaraderie. The Ron Paul supporters have stuck around for years because of this and now they have the growing organization to push through to the mainstream, but it is the lingering subculture behind it , this strong foundation, that is allowing them to push through the normal barriers that would have prevented this in the past.

One bullet point missing I think that is important is the democratization of education I think started in earnest this year. Khan Academy has entered the zeitgeist and Stanford and MIT are now opening up classes to the public. If this continues we could see a much more educated and informed public, which obviously is healthy for democracy in the same way these movements are.