Here in the U.S., Twitter, Facebook and other social networking applications are mainly used by young people for fun. But in Moldova, a small former Soviet republic, young people are using it to organize protests against the Communist government. Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/europe/08moldova.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
Questions to ponder:
Should we be alarmed or excited about the potential of online social networking to generate political expression and change in Moldova and other places around the world? Explain why you think so.
How could online social networking be used in the USA -- to generate positive political change by youth for youth? Describe a SPECIFIC example in which an issue or cause or movement or candidate might benefit from grassroots organizing driven by online social networking.
4 comments:
This is very odd and incredible timing, I just made a twitter account last night and amongst whom I've chose to follow were: US Congress, US Senate, EU Parliament, British Parliament, and the Norwegian Stoltinget, along with the EU election following tool.... I think we SHOULD be more aware of our government and use all tools available (ahh, creativity). Also- there are twittering accounts (which are directed back to the associated government EXCLUSIVELY for youth, obviously this makes a huge impact in how much we (that is we the teens) actually have a voice. Here's an example with the British Youth Parliament (twitter is involved, as you can see once you've pulled up the webpage) http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/newsroom_site/pages/news/2009/20_02_09_constitution.html.
Now in the case of Moldova, and in ANY type of government, bad things can happen if you don't listen to your people (including your YOUTH), and I think that the people of Moldova have a right to a voice, so I'm glad they've ffound it. To answer your other question, we should be excited. Who else grew up in an instantaneous world? Who else has been that close to a political powers step-by-step movements??
Use twitter creatively!!
-Emily Yarrington
Sorry for the typos and extra "(".
I think that the youth are into texting, facebook and twitter so it would be in the best interest of anyone involved in politics to use this tool to get people aware of where they stand on issues. I think that in the Moldova instance it is unfortunate that a riot came about due to the use of twitter, but that seems like the only way that power will be shifted to the younger generation.
I do think that it is a good tool because it is getting the youth more involved.
Just an update, the votes in Moldova have come to a close... and there will likely be ANOTHER election[[young people, rock on.]]
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