STRATEGIES AND TACTICSGROUP 2

ACCORDING TO CERTEAU…

STRATEGY• “I call a strategy the calculation (or

manipulation) of power relationships that

becomes possible as soon as a subject with

will and power (a business, an army, a city,

a scientific institution) can be isolated.”

• “As in management, every ‘strategic’

rationalization seeks first of all to

distinguish its ‘own’ place, that is, the place

of its own power and will, from an

“environment”.

TACTIC• “By contrast with a strategy… a tactic is a

calculated action determined by the absence of a

proper locus.”

• “Thus it must play on and with a terrain imposed on

it and organized by the law of a foreign power.

• “”It operates in isolated actions, blow by blow. It

takes advantage of ‘opportunities’… It must

vigilantly take use of the cracks that particular

conjunctions open in the surveillance of the

propriety powers.”

• “In short, a tactic is an art of the weak.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?THE THEORY, EXPLORED

THE THEORY, EXPLORED

• De Certeau develops the theory of productive and consumptive activity in

everyday life, arguing that many of the things we as humans do on a day to

day basis are influenced and repetitive but we are unconscious of it. For

example, coming home and signing on to Facebook.

• De Certeau links strategies with things like the government and major

institutions that are deemed as “powerful”. Taking Facebook again, making

it a producer whilst we who are the ones using Facebook (“acting”) and

helping it be as successful as it is as the consumers.

• We are defined by strategies by using tactics.

THE THEORY, EXPLORED

• In a way, linking to the first point, we are unconsciously forced to do the same thing

on a day to day basis without being unaware as mentioned: walking on the pavement;

children listening to their parents etc. We sometimes sense there is a power influencing

us to do these things, but are unaware of where or who this power is coming from.

• We conform to these things as they are seen as the norm in society even though have

free will and are able to take shortcuts or jump walls etc. Though it would not be all of

us that are influenced by major institutions like the government or corporations. There

are some people for example that take the “shortcut” if they do not agree with

something. An example of this would be the Tottenham riots in which people believed

one of their own was unlawfully killed and so defied authorities by protesting.

SANDY HOOK SHOOTING, 2012

SANDY HOOK SHOOTING

• Our group’s chosen topic is a recent event that profoundly affected society,

particularly America. On December 14th 2012, Adam Lanza fatally shot

twenty children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary

School in Newtown, Connecticut.

• This severity of this incident affected the world as it drew attention to the

security and safety of their young children and how easy it was for a stranger

to enter their school and commit such a horrific act before killing himself

too.

• This is how the world saw the event, but then internet users took it upon

themselves to expose the flaws in the story.

A CONSPIRACY?SOME EVIDENCE COLLECTED VIA THE INTERNET

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAME TO BE AWARE OF A CONSPIRACY

• ‘Think outside the TV’ uploaded a video exposing a conspiracy and

it immediately went viral gaining 12,000,000 views in less than a

month but then was ‘censored’ according to the uploader and the

view count is now 10,000,000. However, since the video was put

onto YouTube, it gathered attention quickly in less than a month,

sparking a lot of debates.

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAME TO BE AWARE OF A CONSPIRACY

THE REACTION ON YOUTUBE

• Expectedly, the response to this video has been phenomenal and on

all realms of social networking, people have been talking about both

the even and the conspiracy; debates about gun laws; the effects of

video games and the American government have all surfaced.

• On YouTube, there have been many videos related to the topic with

more ‘evidence’ people have found.

THE REACTION ON YOUTUBE

THE REACTION ON FACEBOOK

• On Facebook, the reaction is not so big. On the official page ‘R.I.P

Sandy Hooks Victims’, some people may comment on posts about the

‘hoax’ or post a link to the video. However, where these pages have

a million likes, the number of likes on the hoax pages are only in the

hundreds.

• Perhaps not a lot of people want to be seen by their Facebook friends

liking the page. It might also suggest that not many people believe

the suggestions made in the conspiracy video.

THE REACTION ON FACEBOOK

THE REACTION ON TWITTER AND TUMBLR

• These two sites have also had a mixture of reactions: some who have

not come across the conspiracy; some who have and don’t believe;

and others that believe too.

THE REACTION ON TWITTER AND TUMBLR

SOCIAL MEDIA’S OVERALL REACTION

• After the Sandy Hook shooting occurred, many different reactions circulated.

• On sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, there was a call for people to

stop playing violent video and a call for the gun laws in America to be

reviewed – similar arguments that happened after the Batman shooting a few

months before.

• Of course there were many tributes made. A Facebook group was set up that

currently has 1.4 million likes. Pictures from all around the world of people

paying tribute were put onto the group also.

SOCIAL MEDIA’S OVERALL REACTION

SOCIAL MEDIA’S OVERALL REACTION

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?IS THERE ANOTHER SIDE TO THIS?

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?

• The Sandy Hook shooting shocked the whole world, but the murderer Lanza' s motivation is still a

mystery. When people around the world expressed sympathy for the victims and their families,

there were people thinking the whole case is nothing but a hoax concocted by the U.S. government

and media .

• According to the reports, this amazing speech issued by James Tracy, a 47-year-old professor of

Florida Atlantic University communication department, a senior "conspiracy theory expert". He

believes that the campus shooting could fundamentally not happened, it is just a figment of the

U.S. government, the purpose is just to let the U.S. government to implement the laws of the

management of firearms smoothly, and the report of the media about this cause is to pave the way

for the larger political purposes in the future!

WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?

• The media mistakenly identified that the gunmen as Lanza's elder brother at first, and big mining

his "dirt", but these reports are corrected later. Initially the media claimed that Lanza' s mom is a

teacher of Sandy Hook Elementary School, but almost not many people know her. Moreover, so

far there were no period of video or photographic evidence can be conclusive show that Lanza has

appeared in the campus on that day .

• There are various reports and versions of this event documented, and what people believe is

different depending on what has been heard. Then, what are the different ways that people have

researched or have come across information on the event?

• After the case occurred, people received information from various channels, the mainstream

media, like The New York Times, Huffington Post. The network, like Youtube. People posted their

own ideas, suspicions and investigations for that case in article, photo or video. Media has become

an important channel to the diffusion and report of mass incidents.

THE CONNECTIONHOW DOES THIS VIDEO RELATE TO CERTEAU’S THEORY?

THE CONNECTION

• Certeau’s theory of strategies and tactics is relevant here because

there are people who believe the government, news producers and

the police, as institutions that control society, are using strategies to

cover up the truth about the Sandy Hook shooting.

• However, the public are able to use internet resources tactically to

research the matter themselves. Journalists and reporters are no

longer the only people with the tools and knowledge to make a topic

known to a large audience.

THE CONNECTION

• One of the strategies suggested to have been employed by the authorities in

the Sandy Hook case is the use of crisis teams such as crisisactors.org. who

provide actors and advice in extreme situations where it may be pertinent to

present a certain perspective or response to these events.

• In the Sandy Hook case, a number of the parents and locals who appeared in

news interviews have been accused of working for such companies after the

tactics used by many via the use of social media have been able to expose

them. Some parents have been seen laughing and joking moments before

they believe the cameras have been recording.

THE CONNECTION

• Sites such as Youtube allow for footage like this to be circulated relatively freely

without being as edited and censored as the footage may have been on television

channels covering the event. Social media has also allowed for interviews of the event

to be compared relatively easily, some even showing interviews from the same people

with a variety of differing accounts of the events.

• Some of the tactics used in the Sandy Hook case raise the issue of a conspiracy

theories, as  news helicopter footage and very early news reports from the scene do not

align with the official account of events released by the police and local authorities.

The availability of these sources means that the consumers are able to question the

producers as they have evidence that strategies may have been employed to deliver

the story either superficially or incorrectly.

TO CONCLUDE…

TO CONCLUDE…

• The power of social media not only connects us with other people, but also a multitude

of resources. This, paired with the global popularity of new technologies (tablets,

smartphones etc.), illustrates how society is getting smarter and more independent.

• Most of us are now able to use tools like the internet and editing software, amongst

other tools, to analyse things and do our own research, as opposed to passively

accepting what is told to us straight away. We also know how to broadcast our

conclusions to the world.

• In other words, we have the tools in our jeans pockets; gain new opportunities every

news bulletin; and know many of the tactical shortcuts to create awareness of what

we mavericks consider newsworthy.

• Technology = Freedom to Explore

THANK YOUARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?