San Francisco Anti-War Protests Were Smart This Year
by Angelique van Engelen.
San Francisco’s five year anniversary protest against the war in Iraq yesterday reportedly was smart, rather than angry like five years ago. Major factor was the organizer's use of Twitter!
The organizers of
Direct Action to Stop the War (yes, those guys that flung a pie in a journalist’s face five years ago) used Twitter to coordinate their movements throughout the day.
Protests and events had focal points outside company buildings, like AT&T’s premises to draw attention to the company’s spying equipment. Some arrests were avoided because the organizers sent tweets to participants informing them of strategic moments. Judging from the site’s tweet, there were 35 of those and updates were sent to 371 followers. According to the organizers, 150 arrests were made. A protest without arrests ain’t nothing of course, but at least the police weren’t searching out the guys with the radios.
Twitter is a microblogging tool that everyone can sign up at for free. In a 140 character line space, people post updates by replying to one question; 'What Are You Doing?'.
disclosure: Angelique van Engelen writes
ReporTwitters.com, a blog about journalism and Twitter.
San Francisco Anti-War Protests Were Smart This Year
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