Modern day protest

Modern day protest

At the end of each year TIME magazine lend their cover to a portrait of who they deem ‘Person of the year’. This year, unlike its predecessors (almost every serving U.S. President, The Planet Earth and last year – Mark Zuckerberg), it was not a photograph, but an illustration. A representation of not one person but a title.The Protester.

This year, many parts of the world fell victim to unrest, destruction and an uprise of protest movements. TIME called it ‘The year people said ‘we’ve had enough’. From Occupy Wall Street (and its many offshoot locations) to civil war in Libya, the ‘disenfranchised youth’ in the London riots and the self-immolation of Tibetan monks. It seemed like it was everywhere. Because it was.

In today’s highly connected digital landscape, you cannot escape the news. Unlike earlier times where the reporting of such events were researched and reported by on location Journalists holding Bachelor Degrees and what was published was highly regulated by Government – today’s events are reported by you, or me, or ‘them’.

The way a protest is broadcast to the world has changed forever.

Mobile devices spread the word faster than it can be spoken via Social Media Networks.They publish live footage right there amidst the action. They assist rioters to schedule, identify attacks and initiate destruction. They show the injured, those fighting and those who have already lost. They show the disaster as it happens, playing it out, for all to see, live.

One would assume the only way to control the influx of video, images and blog posts is to shut down the internet. Something that the Egyptian government did and China continues to regulate. The British Government also looked into restricting access for suspected criminals as they quickly blamed Social Media Networks such as Twitter, Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger as the reason the rioters were so organised.

But it’s not just organised crime or violent protesters who utilise Social Networks. By day 3 of the London Riots there was a dramatic increase in Twitter usage within the UK – proving that not only rioters were using the social network but non-rioters visited as a source of real-time information.

The hash tag #LondonRiots was trending globally on Twitter during the riots but just as quickly once they were over that, the hash tag #LondonCleanUp took its place. Suddenly carnage and destruction were overtaken by those residents who stood in protest with brooms instead of batons and organised crime was replaced by working bees.

In another example during civil unrest in Egypt, a group of people set up Tahrir Supplies. A website with a live feed that people in Cairo can phone in and report on what is needed in hospitals, shelters and more. It’s then published both as a post on the website in Arabic and posted to their live twitter feed. People can also post where they are and where they’re travelling to, in case the area they’re travelling to needs something.

Social networks remove geographical barriers and are a source of breaking news which can be used both for good and for bad. They aid protestors to spread messages of peace, cries for help, organise crime and appeal for justice. The uprise of the protestor, TIME magazines person of the year,has been aided directly by both the use of mobile devices and social media communication channels. They will continue to give humanity the power to speak out and protest for what they believe in.