(In Blogged response to “Pick a recent online social movement and describe the ways digital media or new technologies were used to organize activists. …)

[due to time constraint, I cannot link to all sources mentioned in this article. ]

The “Umbrella Movement” in Hong Kong and “Sunflower Movement” in Taiwan are actually not good examples in this topic. The are not “online” social movements. In the contrary, they are quite “offline” because the central activities are limited in the city level, the core leadership is formed at the beginning, and students really don’t need to log on to the Internet to know how their revolutions are going on. However, multiple online storytelling/organizing tools are still used in these movements. And the transmedia organization elements are rich. There are Twitter hashtags, live streaming in Google Hangout and Ustream, Facebook pages and articles, themed songs, Youtube videos and Instagram pictures. Branding icons – yellow umbrella icon and yellow ribbons are used across multiple online/offline media. There are some unique elements such as bluetooth-based mobile apps used to maintain communication channels when Internet is jammed. But overall, the transmedia techniques used in these movements are “standard” or even predictable. For example, one professor asked me for collecting songs written at the beginning of the Umbrella Movement, and he got them just 2 days after.

But since they mainly relied on offline communications, what difference did digital media make? One answer is amplifying the movements’ influence. Thanks to digital media, journalist no longer need to risk themselves going to the protest sites, and they can constantly know what’s happening in the movements in real time. The stories have been in the headlines in both western media and mainland Chinese media (of course in a different way) for weeks. Even today, the Facebook page of the Umbrella Movement is still there and updates nearly everyday, reporting “everything evil from China mainland”. Digital technology helped extend the communities (and hatred) beyond the movement themselves.

Students built their fortress in Facebook and Twitter, whereas their enemies erected their outposts in Weibo and Wechat. There were few exceptions from mainland who jumped over the Firewall and say “hello” on those Facebook pages, only receiving “get out” in return. Students in the protests may think that mainlanders have nothing to do with their affairs. But in reality the fate is never totally at the hands of Hong Kongers and Taiwanese: Service Trade Agreement is about cross-strait relation, and students in Hong Kong cannot have their objective achieved without the decision from Beijing. However, digital media make people feel empowered – since we have the attention and support from (seemingly) the whole world, why do we need politics and dialogue? Optimists think that even though movements failed, “the seed of democracy” is planted in the heart of Hong Kongers and even people in Mainland China. At least the latter part is not the case: I was nearly annoyed by my parents telling me how ignorant the students are during my telephone calls.

What if things happen in another way, saying protesters did not enjoy the hype brought by digital media at first and start to work on their initial cause? There is much nuance in the Service Trade Agreement about how different social classes benefit from the articles, and nomination method is a complex idea. Maybe there is a tiny hope that each party may reach a mutual accepted solution. However, the monsters named “ideology” and “politics“ are so strong and they may be the ones who laughed at last – especially if one does not will or learn to play with them.

(A student-drawn picture depicting the Umbrella Movement as a war against communis Source)

 

(A poster in the Umbrella Movement drawing the Chief Executive of Hong Kong as a wolf. Source)

 

 

(A poster from the Umbrella Movement. Source)