uSE OF TECHNOLOGY to guide a revilution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests that took place in Ukraine in 2004. These protests were in response to the Ukrainian presidential election which was thought to be fraudulent. While the results of the polls showed one candidate as the winner, the officials announced that the other candidate, Yanukovich, a former felon, had won. In response, thousands of protesters flooded the streets during the cold winter months.
Though this revolution predates what we now consider social media, it was perhaps the beginning of the use of more primitive types of social media, like text messaging, for activist purposes. Controlling the media has always been one of the key objectives of an authoritarian government because propaganda is a way to control the people, so it was no surprise that Yanukovich supporters quickly took control of majority of the media outlets. However, they could not control the Internet. Though social media outlets like Twitter were not yet developed, other forms of electronic media such at texting and chat rooms were used to relay news.
The internet and text messaging were essential to the protests in two ways. First, the Internet provided a platform for the people to share their stories, allowing them to become "'citizen journalists' in an otherwise self-censored media environment." Second, there technologies were used to monitor and share information about the election and to coordinate large-scale protests. The speed and the range of communication is immensely important in strategic planning and execution because information is a vital asset.
Eventually, the protests were a success; the election results were annulled and a revote was ordered. The final results showed that the clear winner was the other candidate.
Though this revolution predates what we now consider social media, it was perhaps the beginning of the use of more primitive types of social media, like text messaging, for activist purposes. Controlling the media has always been one of the key objectives of an authoritarian government because propaganda is a way to control the people, so it was no surprise that Yanukovich supporters quickly took control of majority of the media outlets. However, they could not control the Internet. Though social media outlets like Twitter were not yet developed, other forms of electronic media such at texting and chat rooms were used to relay news.
The internet and text messaging were essential to the protests in two ways. First, the Internet provided a platform for the people to share their stories, allowing them to become "'citizen journalists' in an otherwise self-censored media environment." Second, there technologies were used to monitor and share information about the election and to coordinate large-scale protests. The speed and the range of communication is immensely important in strategic planning and execution because information is a vital asset.
Eventually, the protests were a success; the election results were annulled and a revote was ordered. The final results showed that the clear winner was the other candidate.
http://irevolution.net/2009/02/18/digital-resistance-and-the-orange-revolution/