We have been discussing for some time whether or not we should do something to increase our presence on social media and networks. While we see many benefits from social networking technologies we are also extremely concerned about their corporate control and what this means in terms of data security, government repression, promoting corporate, capitalist, materialist and individualist values.

In order for us to function as an effective organisation we have to use various services and technologies that in an ideal world we wouldn't. We have a bank account, we use Paypal and Google searches. By not using social media we felt that we were missing out on an opportunity to reach out to a much wider audience, and particularly an opportunity to connect to others who are interested in our work. Part of the problem is that the various existing forms of online social networking are each controlled by one corporation (In the UK and many parts of the world Facebook and Twitter dominate), and that in order to connect to the people you want to you are forced to use a corporate platform. There are some alternatives, Crabgrass and Diaspora for example, but they do not have sufficient users to provide the reach currently offered by corporate platforms.

As a result we have decided to set up a Twitter account to distribute our news items and outputs, with the important proviso that we are going to make sure we don't make any changes to our style or content as a result. We are going to try this for a period and see how it goes. In addition we are going to actively participate in researching and participating in alternatives to the current corporate controlled platforms. We participated in the Rebellious Media Conference in October, where we helped organise workshops on social media and we will be devoting the first 2012 issue of our quarterly magazine to social networking.

We are keen to here what people think about the decision, or any views on the implications of corporate control of social media. If you have some time we would be really grateful for your thoughts, send an email to contact[at]corporatewatch.org

Our twitter account is @corpwatchuk