[governance] IGC profile: some handfuls of people and a curmudgeon?

Meryem Marzouki meryem at marzouki.info
Fri Oct 1 12:06:41 EDT 2010


> Le 30 sept. 10 à 01:22, Avri Doria a écrit :
>
>> hi,
>>
>> I know there is a stream of new subscribers, and occasionally a  
>> new voice.
>>
>> i think we should have more outreach and i think it would be great  
>> if someone organized it.
>>
>> maybe when you come back from your adventure.
>>
>> cheers
>>
>> a.

That is very true. *Occasionally* a new voice.
It happens that I've compiled some stats on IGC mailing list for a  
presentation I gave in July 2009 at the 2009 International  
Association for Media and Communication Research Conference in Mexico  
City.
The stats were compiled on the more than 13,000 posts sent to this  
list from 1st January 2006 (my focus was the post-WSIS period) to mid- 
July 2009.
Since the list subscribers turnover is not available to simple list  
subscribers like me, I had to restrict my compilation to the  
contributors only (i.e. people who actually posted messages to the  
list). So "participation" means having sent at least one post.
Here is a flavor of the results (hoping the graphics will appear):

1/ IGC Participation Duration:

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Contributors (posters) only. 304 over 4 years. As of mid-July 2009.  
Total of 13,157 posts.
16% (49) participate since 2006.
45% (135): 1 year only participation (2006: 36; 2007: 31; 2008: 44;  
2009: 24)
25% (76): 2 years participation (not necessarily consecutive)
14% (44): 3 years participation (not necessarily consecutive)

2/ IGC Participation Turnover:
Contributors (posters) only. 304 over 4 years. As of mid-July 2009.  
Total of 13,157 posts.

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Legend:
"Old": have participated in previous years
"Join": haven't participated in previous years
"Left": haven't participated the current year, but have previously  
participated
"Total": "Old" + "Join"

3/ IGC Participation diversity:
Contributors (posters) only. 304 over 4 years. As of mid-July 2009.  
Total of 13,157 posts.

50% by 15 contributors (11 participants for 4 years).
Top 2: average of 200 posts/year
Next 6: average of 100
Next 7: average of 90-70
220 contributors posted less than 20 messages each

4/ IGC Participation "coziness":
Well, I didn't dare compiling how many among the 304 posters I  
personally know and have met, and in any case this wouldn't have  
reasonably found its place in an academic presentation.. But this  
feeling of IGC as a "coziness space", which might be corraborated  
through various indicators, is obviously strong, and rather strange,  
speaking of a global civil society caucus, even though only dealing  
with Internet governance issues.

My conclusion is that, far from being curmudgeonly as he warned this  
wasn't his intention, Michael raised a very legitimate and of utmost  
importance question. It probably deserves more serious thinking than  
what it got so far, but obviously only in case democratic  
participation is an issue..

Best,
Meryem

Le 30 sept. 10 à 01:22, Avri Doria a écrit :

> hi,
>
> I know there is a stream of new subscribers, and occasionally a new  
> voice.
>
> i think we should have more outreach and i think it would be great  
> if someone organized it.
>
> maybe when you come back from your adventure.
>
> cheers
>
> a.
>
>
> On 29 Sep 2010, at 18:58, Michael Gurstein wrote:
>
>>
>> I think what I mean is obvious especially since I've been saying  
>> more or
>> less the same thing for years... Yes, I think that there should be a
>> deliberate plan/program of engagement with the broader civil  
>> society and
>> particularly those elements of civil society who are active around  
>> ICTs,
>> social justice and the Internet globally--and there are  
>> multitudes.  The
>> folks active in the HR caucus for example seem to have managed to do
>> something of this reasonably successfully at least as I have been  
>> observing
>> them from a distance.
>>
>> Personally, I go in and out of direct involvements which would be of
>> interest to or interested in IG issues depending on a variety of  
>> personal
>> and other circumstances... At the moment I could certainly engage  
>> with
>> sympathetic folks in Canada and and to a lesser extent in various  
>> other
>> parts of the world where I happen to be working/doing research  
>> etc. but the
>> problem is that to my mind we (IGC) have allowed ourselves to  
>> accept a way
>> too narrow definition of what IG means, rather narrower I would  
>> say than
>> even the IGF as a whole is now coming to accept and certainly  
>> narrower than
>> would be of interest to many of those who would (and should) be  
>> our allies
>> and compadres.
>>
>> Every year about this time I write the same thing and every year  
>> folks move
>> on around "the bad relay point/me" but from what I can see (and  
>> again from a
>> distance) not having the means or the passion to get myself to  
>> Vilnius, the
>> IGC is, if anything, dwindling as older folks drift away and not a  
>> lot of
>> younger folks are recruited and certainly no great tranches of  
>> broader civil
>> society are engaged with.
>>
>> But I'm off on a bit of a personal adventure for the next while  
>> and will
>> have only limited time to engage in a debate on these issues if  
>> any should
>> result from these rather gnarly remarks.
>>
>> Best to all,
>>
>> M
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Avri Doria [mailto:avri at psg.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 3:04 PM
>> To: IGC
>> Subject: Re: [governance] Criterion for charter voting
>>
>>
>>
>> and why do you mean by this?
>>
>> is there some activity you think the group should be engaged in,  
>> that it is
>> not?
>> have you been doing outreach bringing in new people?
>>
>> a.
>>
>> On 29 Sep 2010, at 16:25, Michael Gurstein wrote:
>>
>>> I don't mean to be curmudgeonly but I really would have preferred to
>>> see some of the energy and creativity that is going into ensuring  
>>> the
>> probity of the electoral system of this several handfuls of people  
>> most of
>> whom know each other by sight over almost a decade, into  
>> broadening and
>> deepening the group so that it has some broader legitimacy (and  
>> not just
>> legalistically) as a voice for civil society in these most  
>> significant
>> areas.
>>>
>>> Mike ____________________________________________________________
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>>
>> ____________________________________________________________
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>
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