osh On's "They Rule" has become a classic of net.art. It's the best cartography of social and political influence I have ever seen, so even if you have already discovered this site it may be time for another visit. "They Rule" has the feel of diagnostic social software in the way it maps links between individuals and institutions. It also has the feel of an information visualization tool where the goal is to reveal the dynamics of corporate and economic power. And its strategies are very much in line with those of artists like Hans Haacke.
"'They Rule' aims to provide a glimpse of some of the relationships of the US ruling class. It takes as its focus the boards of some of the most powerful U.S. companies, which share many of the same directors. Some individuals sit on 5, 6 or 7 of the top 500 companies. It allows users to browse through these interlocking directories and run searches on the boards and companies. A user can save a map of connections complete with their annotations and email links to these maps to others. 'They Rule' is a starting point for research about these powerful individuals and corporations."
[Josh On has written more about his project for Ars Electronica.]
[See also: Doug McCune's "Political Friendster."]
Comments