初探臺大新聞E論壇的行動者網絡建構

Abstract

2014年3月18日，由於不滿《海峽兩岸服務貿易協議》審查程序，上百位學生及公民團體群聚立法院外，部分現場人士甚至以突襲方式進入國會議場並宣布佔領立法院。他們透過網路號召串連，越來越多民眾聚集在立法院周圍聲援議場內人士，展開長達24日的「太陽花運動」。

普遍來說，社會運動傾向挑戰主流社會價值觀，也因此容易遭到主流媒體消音或扭曲報導，為求突圍，除了由社運組織自行傳播訊息外，社會運動亦需要公民新聞協助發聲。隨著技術進入門檻逐漸降低，幾乎人人都有機會成為公民記者。太陽花運動期間，在各校學生與多種網路技術、服務協力下，原為臺灣大學新聞研究所師生專屬的線上交流平臺「臺大新聞E論壇」轉化為報導運動現場的公民新聞媒體。

儘管網路技術是公民新聞媒體的基石，但過去研究多採工具性視角將其定義為一個前提，鮮少談論網路技術的技術物特性與它們創造的生活氛圍如何影響人類行動。因此，本研究援引行動者網絡理論的技術／社會相互建構觀點為分析架構，將臺大新聞E論壇視為一個人與非人共組的動態網絡。經由重讀這段人與技術的互動史，本研究期望為公民新聞研究提供一個另類的思考途徑─在社會因素之外留意技術的影響力─對於與技術緊密連結的當代社會來說，如此思考將有助於我們理解並改善公民新聞的運作。On 18 March 2014, over a hundred students and members of civic groups gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan to protest against the review process of the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services. Subsequently, a portion of the protesters raided legislative chambers and proclaimed occupancy of the Legislative Yuan. The activists convened over the Internet, rallying more and more people to the Legislative Yuan to support their cause, consequently resulting in a 24-day protest called the “Sunflower Movement.”

Social movements typically challenge mainstream values, and are therefore likely to be silenced or distorted by mainstream media. To break through such constraints, not only are social movement organizations required to propagate information independently, movements themselves rely on citizen journalism to voice ideology. Apace with the gradual simplification of technology, most people have the opportunity to become citizen journalists. During the Sunflower Movement, the cooperation of students from various schools and the collaboration of various internet technologies and services transformed the “NTU News E Forum,” which was originally used by the National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of Journalism as an online exchange platform, into a citizen journalism medium for reporting the movement scene in real-time.

Although internet technologies are the foundation of citizen journalism media, the majority of previous studies employed instrumental perspectives to predefine citizen journalism media. Few studies have discussed the technical characteristics of internet technologies and how the life ambience created by such technologies influence human behavior. In the present study, the researchers cited the actor-network theory and society’s mutual constitution concepts in the development of an analysis framework, where the “NTU News E Forum” is deemed a human-nonhuman dynamic framework. The researchers reviewed the history of human-technology interaction in the attempt to propose an alternative approach to citizen journalism research, specifically, the influence of technologies beyond social factors. In terms of contemporary societies, which are closely connected to technologies, the proposed approach facilitates researchers in better understanding and improving the operations of citizen journalism.