Last week, a senior Iranian cleric claimed that earthquakes are caused by the promiscuous behaviour of women.
Such a claim produced guffaws and countless Twitter retweets in probably most places outside Iran.
Now Mashable reports on how a Facebook group called Boobquake plans to test the cleric’s theory through an event taking place today. Mashable says it’s designed to embarrass the cleric if a significant increase in earthquakes does not occur.
[…] The event has more than 177,000 “confirmed†guests and 57,000 “maybes.†There’s also a Facebook page [Explicit Images] that has been liked by more than 37,000 users, and a Twitter hashtag called #boobquake that’s getting several updates per minute. Boobquake has been all over the mainstream media, and merchandise is already rolling out – t-shirts and the like.
What started out as a private joke among friends, according to originator Jen McCreight, has morphed into something that looks like taking on a life of its own.
Setting aside the voyeur aspects of the Facebook page and how some may see this as crass commercialization (you can buy a t-shirt although it’s clearly stated that profits from sales support charities), not to mention exploitation of a negative stereotype, the fact remains that it’s a great example of how anyone with just an idea that others can identify with can mobilize opinion into action via a social networking site.
Precisely the kind of thing Clay Shirky talks about in Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.
10 responses to “Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd”
[Blog] Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd http://tinyurl.com/2ek8q9h #fb #in #boobquake
[Blog] Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd http://tinyurl.com/2ek8q9h #fb #in #boobquake
The only hitch in the whole event is the fact that an earthquake did happen today – quite a large one in fact http://bit.ly/bqE9qh – perhaps boobs are behind earthquakes after all?
As I understand it, Matthew, the goal of the event today is to disprove the Iranian cleric on women’s promiscuity being the cause of an increase in earthquakes.
If the one you point out in Taiwan is the only one reported today, then advantage cleric!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Neville Hobson. Neville Hobson said: [Blog] Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd http://tinyurl.com/2ek8q9h #fb #in #boobquake […]
@hannahnicklin @freecloud I don't see the concept as flawed at all. http://is.gd/bIbGf
@hannahnicklin well, that's one point of view. I understand your pov. But it's not how the organizer (a woman) see it http://is.gd/bIbGf
[nh.com] Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd http://goo.gl/fb/Mb8sG
Hobson: Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd:
Last week, a senior Iranian cleric claimed that earthquakes are cau… http://bit.ly/cJBZNi
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[nh.com] Earthquakes and wisdom of the crowd [link to post]
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