Talk delivered at The Impact of Civic Technology Conference (TICTeC) 2017 in Florence, Italy on April 26, 2017. More details about the conference: http://tictec.mysociety.org/

1. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
Designing for
Monitorial Citizenship

5. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
Designing for Monitorial Citizenship
1. The Rise of Anti-Institutionalism
2. Defining Monitorial Citizenship
3. Design Principles
4. Reflecting on Ethics and Impact

6. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
Designing for Monitorial Citizenship
1. The Rise of Anti-Institutionalism
2. Defining Monitorial Citizenship
3. Design Principles
4. Reflecting on Ethics and Impact

7. Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Institutionalists
&
Insurrectionists

9. Pew Research. (2011). Public Trust
in Government: 1958–2014.
Do you trust the government in Washington to do the
right thing all or most of the time?
77% in 1964, 19% in 2011

10. +22 (+44%) from 50% in 1981
+10 (+18%) from 57% in 1998
-12 (-19%) from 64% in 2004
-26 (-38%) from 68% in 1975
-43 (-54%) from 80% in 1975
-39 (-54%) from 72% in 1991
-33 (-51%) from 65% in 1988
-31 (-50%) from 62% in 1975
-32 (-53%) from 60% in 1979
-15 (-38%) from 39% in 1977
-27 (-53%) from 51% in 1979
-6 (-21%) from 29% in 2012
-25 (-54%) from 46% in 1993
-13 (-38%) from 34% in 1975
-34 (-81%) from 42% in 1973

14. Contemporary youth see
living in a democratically
governed country as less
essential
Foa, R. S., & Mounk, Y. (2017). The Signs of
Deconsolidation. Journal of Democracy, 28(1),
5–16.

16. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
Designing for Monitorial Citizenship
1. The Rise of Anti-Institutionalism
2. Defining Monitorial Citizenship
3. Design Principles
4. Reflecting on Ethics and Impact

17. Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Monitorial Citizenship is a form of
civic engagement in which people
track issues or communities of local
or personal interest, taking action
when they feel they must.

18. Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
• collecting information
• sharing stories and insights
• coordinating with networks of other civic actors
• pursuing accountability for institutions and elite
individuals and their perceived responsibilities
Monitorial Citizenship practices

20. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
Designing for Monitorial Citizenship
1. The Rise of Anti-Institutionalism
2. Defining Monitorial Citizenship
3. Design Principles
4. Reflecting on Ethics and Impact

22. • Involves technology accessible to
those users
• Solves a real problem
• Has a good theory of change… using
tools that are appropriate

23. Design Principle #1
Co-design
Chisholm, J. (n.d.). What is co-design? http://
designforeurope.eu/what-co-design “build with, not for”

24. Design Principle #2
Give users agency
Eubanks, V. (2007). Popular technology:
Exploring inequality in the information economy.
Science and Public Policy, 34(2), 127–138.
“popular technology”

25. Design Principle #3
Use facts when
they will win…
“transparency”

26. Design Principle #4
…leverage personal
stories when facts
will not win.
Dimond, J. P., Dye, M., Larose, D., & Bruckman, A.
S. (2013). Hollaback!: The Role of Storytelling
Online in a Social Movement Organization. In
Proceedings of the 2013 Conference on Computer
Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 477–490).
“emotive counterspeech"

27. Design Principle #5
Tell a story
Canning, D., & Reinsborough, P. (2012). Think
narratively. In A. Boyd (Ed.), Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox
for Revolution (pp. 186–187). New York: OR Books.
“think narratively”

28. • Appeal to personal and
collective identity
• Provide feedback
loops
(other) General Civic Technology
design principles to apply
Bennett, W. L., &
Segerberg, A. (2013). The
Logic of Connective Action:
Digital Media and the
Personalization of
Contentious Politics.
Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Gastil, J. (2016). Building a
Democracy Machine:
Toward an Integrated and
Empowered Form of Civic
Engagement. Harvard
Kennedy School.

29. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
Designing for Monitorial Citizenship
1. The Rise of Anti-Institutionalism
2. Defining Monitorial Citizenship
3. Design Principles
4. Reflecting on Ethics and Impact

30. Vigilantes
Reflecting on Ethics and Impact
Levenson, E. (2015, April 11). Reddit’s Find Boston
Bombers Thread Moderator Is Full of Regrets.
Boston.com.

31. Institutionalization
Reflecting on Ethics and Impact
Madianou, M., Ong, J. C., Longboan, L., & Cornelio, J.
S. (2016). The Appearance of Accountability:
Communication Technologies and Power Asymmetries
in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Recovery. Journal of
Communication, 66(6), 960–981
Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

32. Intended/Unintended
Consequences
Reflecting on Ethics and Impact
Peixoto, T. (2012, September 14). I Paid a Bribe. So
What? https://democracyspot.net/2012/09/14/i-paid-a-
bribe-so-what/

33. What does unhealthy skepticism
look like?
Reflecting on Ethics and Impact

34. TICTeC
Florence, Italy
26 April 2017
Erhardt Graeff
MIT Media Lab
@erhardt
follow-up
erhardt@media.mit.edu
@erhardt
civic.mit.edu