4chan vs. Scientology
Well, the 4chan kids are at it again. Home of trolling and general pre-teen and teenaged idiocy, 4chan has been responsible for such internet marvels as the LOLcats and Caturday. And now, they are at war with the Scientologists. (Fortune article here)
At this point, the people who originally started the thing seem to have dropped off the map, but others have moved in. There are supposed to be protests at Scientology centers all over the place on February 10th, though we'll see how many people turn up. A bunch of media outlets have done stories.
It could -- probably will -- die out pretty quickly, but it's very interesting to see the way that this campaign is being waged. People are using viral marketing techniques honed by the brightest minds in advertising to their advantage. There are some awesome YouTube videos out there, including the initial declaration of war, and another one calling people to action. They have an interesting running theme of having no leader, of being "Annonymous" so that the infamous Scientology litigation machine can't attack them -- if a monster has no heads, it cannot be killed.
There are some more well known anti-Scientology people out there who are lending their weight to the movement, but it seems to be happening on all levels. Obviously, it's not going to get to the point of bringing Scientology down, but it's interesting in that it forecasts the techniques which will someday be used by someone for something that IS successful. This is an honest to god 'spawned out of nowhere' grassroots movement.
Here is a thread on the Straight Dope discussing this whole thing. There are lots and lots of links on the thread to some of the things that Annonymous is/are up to.
At this point, the people who originally started the thing seem to have dropped off the map, but others have moved in. There are supposed to be protests at Scientology centers all over the place on February 10th, though we'll see how many people turn up. A bunch of media outlets have done stories.
It could -- probably will -- die out pretty quickly, but it's very interesting to see the way that this campaign is being waged. People are using viral marketing techniques honed by the brightest minds in advertising to their advantage. There are some awesome YouTube videos out there, including the initial declaration of war, and another one calling people to action. They have an interesting running theme of having no leader, of being "Annonymous" so that the infamous Scientology litigation machine can't attack them -- if a monster has no heads, it cannot be killed.
There are some more well known anti-Scientology people out there who are lending their weight to the movement, but it seems to be happening on all levels. Obviously, it's not going to get to the point of bringing Scientology down, but it's interesting in that it forecasts the techniques which will someday be used by someone for something that IS successful. This is an honest to god 'spawned out of nowhere' grassroots movement.
Here is a thread on the Straight Dope discussing this whole thing. There are lots and lots of links on the thread to some of the things that Annonymous is/are up to.