Online revolution has been something which has appeared much in the news lately, in that you look at the Arab Spring, UK riots, and now the Occupy Wall Street movement (which I still don't really understand).
I find the UK riots of particular interest, as from everything I have read, nothing and no one can seem to conclude why they occurred. Sure enough I have heard both sides, with one side arguing that they were a protest about welfare cuts and inequitable distribution of funds (a socialist revolution?) and the other side that they were simply poor people, and copy cats, mindlessly venting their frustrations over being in such a situation.
One of the best resources I have found on this is the Reading the Riots website, which is presented by the Guardian newspaper, as well as the London School of Economics. It clearly demonstrates that social media, mainly Facebook and Twitter were used in the riots, as well as listing stories on the people who have been charged over using the services to incite rioting and violence.
Of particular interest was a 15 year old boy who was given a curfew and year of rehabilitation following a Facebook post which encouraged his friends to participate in the rioting. There were several other charges laid on different people for essentially encouraging violence and rioting on social media websites.
From further reading, I don't believe that anything was really achieved by the riots, except maybe a hefty damage bill to the British people. They started out as a peaceful protest over the shooting of Mark Duggan, a 39 year old man who was killed by police, however, it escalated into street violence, with many people believing that the British police were lying over what actually happened.
So, is there really a political message instilled in these demonstrations?
This leads me to believe that the internet can be used for mass revolutions, but they don't always have to be for something positive.
So in my own true blogging style, I end with the question of what you think the UK riots were about? And, do you think anything was really achieved?
Also, here is footage of a Malaysian student being mugged by people he thought were going to help him during the rioting, displaying some of the grotesque and intolerable behaviour which occurred.
Ben, I've found myself likening the UK riots to what the novel 1984.If you haven't read it, 1984 describes a society which is under the thumb of an organisation led by the mysterious Big Brother. It is a place where people's desires and personalities are constantly being suppressed by the powerful authorities. Although many tactics are used to distract and confuse people's ability to identify, articulate and oppose this supression, it remains impossible to get rid of the anger they feel. As a result, this is misdirected to a a scapegoat figure in the daily '2 minutes of hate' in which anger flows like a living thing.
ReplyDeleteI think that the UK riots are similar in that they were mostly led by an 'underclass' of people who, for a multitude of reasons felt unappreciated and overlooked by their government, and jumped at the chance to somehow fight back. However, this was unarticulated and misdirected anger, which, facilitated by social media connections only seemed to cause destruction.
Ben the guardian i too found the most useful site for information on the riots this page helped me wrap my head around the events that occured http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2011/sep/05/england-riots-timeline-interactive
ReplyDeleteit is an interactive timeline and maps out the events when they happen and through what platform. I find it so interesting to find that all three revolutions/riots you have mentioned Arab Spring, UK riots, and Occupy Wall Street movement have all harnessed SNSs, Twitter even claims part of the credit in the Arab Spring revolution. SNS are they revolutionising revolutions?