If you still have doubts about the power of social networking sites, take note of the recent protests against Burma’s military regime that drew thousands of people world-wide. According to Wired, protest organizers made extensive use of Facebook:
Amateur activists and big-league political nonprofit groups find Facebook an easy way to connect citizens around the globe and help them push their collective concerns to the top of politicians’ agendas, a development that marks the beginnings of what might be called “open-source politics.”
Saturday’s protests were organized by members of a 300,000-strong Facebook group called Support the Monks’ Protest, working in conjunction with the more experienced political advocacy groups . . . .
Support the Monks’ Protest was started this year by a 19-year-old college freshman from Toronto. What conclusions are Israeli and Palestinian activists drawing from this?
Related reading: The Social Media Revolution