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Social Media Enabling Social Upheaval

February 1st, 2011

Social Networking

In the January/February issue of Foreign Affairs, Clay Shirky succinctly lays out a social purpose and political strategy for utilizing Social Media to gain organizational capacity where no hierarchical presence exists. While interesting, I’ll skip the political strategy and repeat some of the uses of social technology used over time.  It’s far more interesting when applied against a backdrop of necessity of human virtue versus a need to find a great restaurant in Georgetown.

• Jan 17^th, 2001 – “Go 2 EDSA. Wear Blk” a text forwarded to millions (seven, to be exact) of Filipinos to protest the setting aside of evidence in the trial of President Joseph Estrada.  The result was a massive demonstration of millions of Filipinos and the eventual overturn of that ruling, which resulted in the end of the Estrada rule.
• 2004, Spain – Text messages organized a protest, ousting then Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar who had inaccurately blamed Basque separatists for the Madrid transit bombings.
• 2009, Moldova – The communist party lost power due to massive protests organized on Facebook, Twitter, and through text messages after a fraudulent election.
• Boston Globe’s 2002 expose of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church went viral. Lawsuits rained down on the Church.
• 2006, Belarus – Protests arranged partly by email against President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s alleged vote rigging swelled and faltered.
• 2010, Thailand – Protesters occupied downtown Bangkok until the Thai government dispersed the crowd, killing dozens.

The article lists many more past occasions, but becomes even more topical with the recent demonstrations and riots in Egypt.  Not only did Social Media help to focus and organize riots, it was turned off in order to help squelch it from continuing.  We know now that a tide once started is very difficult to stop – especially when a country can’t truly stop Social Media just by turning off Facebook and Twitter within its borders. Now we stand in audience to the formation of a new government.  Time will tell its virtue, but the movement started on something more tangible – Twitter.  It’s important to realize the power of the technology of today, the tools of the trade in both democracy and authoritarian rule, are one in the same.  The tools we use every day to announce our location, favorite restaurant, and lack of desire to go to work – are often the catalyst of choice for a burgeoning social cause.