Richard Brown
“Local dictator giving you the blues?
”There’s an app for that!”
UPDATE!
SIRTE, LIBYA
OCTOBER 20,2011
Muammar Gaddafi was killed after being captured by the Libyan fighters. Cornered and shot in the head, just as I figured he would be. I think I gave him a metaphorical five steps, in reality, it was probably not much more than fifty.
TRIPOLI, LIBYA
AUGUST 22, 2011
“Welcome to all our brothers & sisters from inside Tripoli on Twitter.”
Internet returns to Libya for the first time since February 17, 2011 The message on Twitter came from the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, an opposition group that has long spoken out against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi. Google’s “transparency report,” shows a dramatic spike in Libyan usage at about 11:30 p.m. GMT on Sunday. Fewer than 6% of Libyans are on the Internet. Some observers believe this has slowed the pace of revolution in the country.Governments have been known to use Internet blackouts as a weapon in recent uprisings. Al Jazeera reported early Sunday that Tripoli residents had begun receiving Internet service again and were receiving text messages urging them to take to the streets and “eliminate agents with weapons
KING 5 NEWS
AUGUST 11, 2011
England’s grownups say enough! Citizens use social media, “Twitter” to organize around their younger, media connected rioters.
Seen as “vigilante justice” by the the authority’s.”
I see this as the adults using the same tools to round up their kids. YES, it’s going to get a little uglier, but it’s what must be done.
When the adults have stopped the kids, the “justice” will end.
I suggest that caution on the side of compassion be applied in the prosecution of some of these adults.
**NOTE Sure enough, that’s just what happened.
LONDON (AP)
AUGUST 7, 2011
Traffic is surging to Twitter and major media websites in the UK as the London riots enter their fourth night.
A chaotic wave of violence and looting raged across London and spread to three other major British cities on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain the country’s worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the 1980s.
Social media and mobile technology have been playing a major role in the riots. Police are monitoring Twitter, and warn that those who have posted messages inciting the violence could face arrest.
The small groups of youths (most with their heads and faces covered) used SMS messages, instant messaging on BlackBerry smartphones and social media platforms such as Twitter to coordinate their attacks and stay ahead of the police.
“It got out of hand. It’s not connected to this anymore.” This is out of control,” (Ref: Mark Duggan)
The social media impact of the London Riots seems to be limited to Twitter, though. Facebook, the world’s largest social network, didn’t receive a similar traffic spike.
Network Effects:
“Social Media’s Role in the London Riots”
“Facebook and Twitter can fuel uprisings by allowing participants to coordinate action and to see themselves as part of a larger movement.” Mathew Ingram
KING 5 NEWS
AUGUST 8, 2011
“Seattle PD holds ‘Tweet along”
SEATTLE, Wash. “The Seattle Police Department held its first “Tweet along” with bicycle officers in the East Precinct Monday.” (Feature of platform; “Microblogging” gives law enforcement “plain view” access to two way, personal communications.)
KING 5 NEWS
AUGUST, 2011
LONG BEACH, Calif. Due to the extreme popularity of social media use, researchers have increased their attention on the development of psychological disorders resulting in teens who obsess over Facebook. They’ve found antisocial behavior, narcissism and a many other character flaws may be on the rise due to teens overdosing on the world’s most prevelent social media site.” These findings come from a recent study performed by Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University.
Teens were more likely to develop narcissistic behaviors if they used Facebook often.
Young adults with a strong presence on Facebook show more signs of psychological disorders such as mania, aggression and anti-social behaviors.
Overuse of media and technology has an overall negative effect on the health of all adolescents as they are more prone to anxiety and depression. They are also more likely to have future health problems.
Students who checked Facebook at least once during a 15-minute study period experienced lower grades.
TUNISIA
JANUARY 12, 2011
Tunisian protests fueled by social media networks.
The protests that have gripped Tunisia in recent weeks are, to say the least, unusual. Organized dissent in the streets is rarely tolerated in Arab states, and human rights groups say the Tunisian government has had a short fuse when dealing with opponents. But what’s going on in Tunisia is all the more unusual because the protests are being organized and supported through online networks centered on Twitter and Facebook.
In Tunisia’s state of unrest, protesters are using blogs, Facebook, Twitter, WikiLeaks documents, YouTube and other methods to mobilize and report on what is going on. The weeks of demonstrations, including the deaths of at least three and as many as 20 people, have been largely ignored by the majority of media outlets until recent days.
Despite rigid censorship, the protesters have been aided by such external online activists as the collective known as Anonymous, (The same group who has promised to crash Facebook on November 5, 2011.
“Twitter played an important initial role in Tunisia for much of December. As the revolution gathered steam, the new minister of youth and sports, was an inspiration for bloggers in Tunisia,” said Nour. @slim404
Here are four ways that social media played a role in the Tunisian revolution. ( Notice how they are repeated in the related notations.)
Grassroots mobilization. Some of the organization of protests happened on Facebook, which effectively played the role of community organizing platform
Organized the rise of civil society and active citizenship. Citizens used social media to identify the positions of snipers, police and looters, and to alert one another to other violence, said Nour, who also noted that networks formed to clean streets, protect shops or organize bread lines. (See: London)
Counter rumor or propaganda tool. When there were concerns about water being poisoned, people sharing information on Facebook helped to counter that falsehoodk. When reports came in that there was massive shooting in a neighborhood, a few minutes later, a few dozen people said that was untrue.
Helped people analyze government statements. When government went on TV, people went on online to analyze what the president had said, and to form a consensus on whether the positions met their requirements. Ultimately, they did not.
EGYPT
FEBRUARY 11, 2011
This would actually be the first time in history that the mainstream public has been able to see Facebook and Twitter, a crucial part of the way we now communicate, speedily and successfully convey the ideas and beliefs that do lead to a revolution. By this happening Worldwide, in all formats, through social media, and in real-time they had nationwide agreement, world support, growing local support, growing military support,etc. Giving those on the ground the strength to pressure Mubarak’s regime with a force that came not from world leaders but from the sheer size of the crowd. (Notice that there have been two revolutions in a very short period of time ).
EGYPT
JANUARY 25, 2011
Egyptian pro-democracy protesters are embracing Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Twitpic.
After Egypt exploded into revolution, news of the uprisings instantly reached Tunisia, Libya, Sudan and others via Twitter and Facebook, aiding those countries’ people in orchestrating rebellions as well.
SCIENCE DAILY
JULY 15, 2011
Social studies of Facebook and Twitter have been adapted to gain a greater understanding of the swarming behaviour of locusts.
In a study published on July 15, 2011, in the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society’s New Journal of Physics, researchers have shown that swarming, a phenomenon that can be crucial to an animal’s survival, is created by the same kind of social networks that humans adopt.
Studies have shown that the decisions you make, or the opinion you have, are strongly influenced by the decisions and opinions of your friends, or more generally, your contacts in your social network.
SYRIA
AUGUST 03, 2011
Syrian protestors are scared to use Facebook and Twitter, saying the government tracks their posts, as officials in that region attempt to prevent another uprising.
Anti-government activists accuse authorities of watching Twitter feeds and Facebook in order to learn of planned protests and arrest those who show up. In fact, activists believe the government reopened the previously blocked social media sites earlier this year explicitly to monitor citizens’ behavior.
“The government reopened Facebook because they realized that it was more useful for them to allow activists to communicate on the site, and then track us down using their team of loyalists who search the Internet,” said one protester.
Socialnomicsingularity 
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