On Friday 30th September and Saturday 1st October 2011, I participated in Media Squares: on the new forms of protests and their media, organised by De Baile, in Amsterdam. And two weeks later joined the Occupy London protest.
Social protest has become almost inseparably linked to a plethora of media images and messages distributed via internet, mobile phones, social media, internet video platforms and of course traditional media outlets such as newspapers, radio and television. A popular category to have emerged recently is the 'twitter-revolution'. In almost all cases - Iran, Tunisia, Egypt, and London - the role of the platform turned out to be less influential in retrospect, although certainly, deeply rooted blogger-networks did play a mayor role, preparing the protests that have now been dubbed the Arab Spring. And digital connectivity played a crucial role in the organisation and co-ordination of the European 'anti-austerity' protests in Spain, Greece, UK and Italy where protest was manifest on the streets and particularly in public squares.