Tactic: Using Twitter to Coordinate Protests in London

Written by Talia Whyte on April 2, 2009 – 1:03 am -

g20-protestsDescription: Believe it or not, citizen journalism didn’t just start recently with blogs and Facebook. The Independent Media Center (IMC) was established in 1999 to provide grassroots coverage to the Seattle WTO protests. IMC has since become an international “network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth.” Nowadays, the network is also using new media tools to report the unreported. Today’s Financial Fool’s Day protests in London once again spotlights how IMC still reigns in digital activism.
Digital Tools Being Used: Indymedia, Twitter, Text Messaging
What Are They Doing: With world leaders in London for the special Group of Twenty (G20) meeting to discuss the global economic downturn, protesters in Trafalgar Square provided news about the protests throught text messages and Twitter. Some tweets looked like this from ur32daurt: “Police are section 41ing pple cos of riots elsewhere.helicopters overhead.traffic been blocked 4 an hour” and from panda_power: “Riot police have just enetered the camp with raised batons. Ppl chanting ‘this is not a riot”, campers still peaceful.” Some reporters are also posting pictures from the day’s events.

Later in the evening, there were reports from the police published in the mainstream media that a protester died after collasping; however, Indymedia London said it can not confirm this information. Protesters with any information are asked to contact Indymedia London dispatch and the legal team at Bindmans Solicitors on 02078334433 to clarify the circumstances of this death.

Join IMC Reporting: 07588 479 039: Voice / SMS / MMS 08444 870 157: Audio recording for publishing Twitter: add hashtag #imcg20 in your message (more info) Mobile: get (((i)))mobile

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Posted in Europe, Microblogging, Mobile Phones | 4 Comments »


4 Responses to “Tactic: Using Twitter to Coordinate Protests in London”

  1. By John Moore on Apr 2, 2009 | Reply

    People have got to stop talking about Twitter as the press is on overload. Check out my blog post on why Twitter should be avoided:

    http://bit.ly/5tx2

    John
    http://www.wordpress.com

  2. By dan mcquillan on Apr 2, 2009 | Reply

    Interesting. I suspect that very little of that was actually coordination.

    I think Twitter et al were definitely adding value by amplifying the event, so people not able to be there felt a real connection.

    And maybe some of them decided to come and join in.

    But my impression on the ground was that coordination, where there was any, was based on old school stuff like having a sense of basic tactics, being aware of sudden movements in the crowd or the police, & sticking close to your mates.

    I can see that the social reporting of the event (i.e. the self-generated media) is having some effect as an alternative to the mainstream media’s distorted version.

    And it may turn out that social media has a role to play in legal stuff; i know that legal observers always struggle to find witnesses to arrests or incidents & maybe the twitter stream can help.

    I also had the thought that some of the social media (especially video) is great awareness-raising material. Lot’s of people are shocked when they first experience harsh police tactics, and panic, making things worse. I wonder if future preparations will draw on the social media record of past events.

    Btw, the ugly scenes at the end of the (otherwise fantastic, positive and hyper-organised!) climate camp (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t244-zEENSs), where peaceful people with raised hands are battered by truncheons, is pretty much a repeat of some of the stuff i saw in Genoa in 2001. The fact that campers managed to have a meeting to reach a consensus about their response is amazing (and shows the power of participation that we social media junkies are always going on about :)

    solidarity
    dan

  3. By Mary on Apr 8, 2009 | Reply

    Dan,

    Thanks for your thoughtful analysis. I particularly like your comments on the use of social media for “amplification” and “promotion,” implying that these tools are useful not only for allowing communication between participants in the action, but also the inclusion of virtual participants(?) in real time.

    Mary

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