Tactic: Keeping demonstrators up to date using Twitter

Written by Simon on May 17, 2008 – 5:32 pm -

Description: A German group used the microblogging service Twitter to inform protesters during the traditional May 1 demonstrations in Hamburg, Germany.

Organizer: The Freie Sender Kombinat (FSK), “Free Channels Conglomerate”, a Hamburg-based independent radio station.

Purpose of Action: To inform leftist protesters about the progress of both their own and a neo-nazi counter-demonstration.

Organizing Tools: Twitter, cell phones.

Outcome: About 360 people followed the FSK’s Twitter account and were subsequently informed about the ongoing of both demonstrations, but the organizers failed to study whether their broadcasting had any effect on the protesters’ behavior. Using Twitter instead of regular SMS broadcasting saved the FSK about 650 € (~1000 $) of SMS costs.

Ease of Replication: Twitter is one of the new minimalist and easy-to-use web 2.0 technologies. Updates can be received via the service’s website, RSS feed, instant messenger (XMPP / Jabber) or specialized Twitter clients.
Reporting from a demonstration via Twitter is by far easier to handle than most alternatives, i.e. live radio broadcasting, and highly cost effective. Problems could arise through a lack of phone connection or data security.

Read more »


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Blogs, Europe, Mobile Phones, Tactics | No Comments »

DigiActive News: Interview (in German)

Written by Simon on April 16, 2008 – 10:34 pm -

On Tuesday, DigiActive writer Simon Columbus was interviewed by Frédéric Valin of Spreeblick, which is one of Germany’s top three blogs, about digital activism.

If you understand German, you can read the whole interview on Spreeblick.

Topics included a review of last September’s “Free Burma” action lead by German bloggers and a look at the power of digital activism.


Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in DigiActive News | No Comments »