‘Occupy Wall Street’ Movement goes Global: Social Media again in Full Boom

After triggering uprisings across the Arab world, the social media has come up with its renewed role igniting protest demonstrations across the globe in which people have reiterated their anger against the global financial system, corporate greed and government cutbacks. On Saturday, protest demonstrations were held in around 900 cities of Europe, Asia and Africa, after it was started in the United States couple of weeks back.

As the protests are spreading, they are turning a militant tone as the demonstrators turned violent in Rome, resulting arrest of many people, though people at large are peaceful. The protest could have been easily tackled and confined within the Wall Street where it was started.

But the protestors continued sharing live updates, photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube provoking the people with reformatory mindset in other countries too. Likewise, Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States Administration has failed to perceive the potential of the struggle and considered it a limited struggle.

Had they banned social media network for a while till the protestors calm down, the Obama Administration could have tackled the issue effectively. But now the milk has spilt. The matter has gone international. It is no more in the control of US government.

However, the US government could have also saved the other countries by proposing reforms in international financial and corporate system. There could never have been the protests in Spain, Rome and other European states had the demonstrators not shared live videos and photos on social media. The social media has to a large extent has become uncontrollable factor. If the government bans social media websites, then cell phones will do the same work.

And no country would afford to force the telecom giants to suspend their multimedia messaging service. Though it is not undoable but it might trigger another controversy against the respective governments if the multinational companies also stood up against them. The online conversation is also on increase amidst protests in which they are sharing the schedule, agenda and nature of the protest demonstration on certain schedule.

Trendrr, a social media analytics firm, states that the number of posts in social media about Wall Street protests have increased about 25 percent that had been recorded at 15 percent during the last week. Hundreds of Facebook pages have been created on the protests and other thousands are there to like them.

Following the trend, the identical pages like Occupy Brazil, Occupy Tokyo, Occupy Sidney and Occupy Berlin have also been created. As the protestors have also been demanding end to corporate greed, the Facebook page of Occupy the London Stock Exchange Facebook has been liked around 16,000 people that carries videos, photos and latest status of the movement.

The demonstrators have been posting on their website that they demanded real democracy and they would not let politicians and corporate elites know that now the people would decide their future. The widespread demonstrations have not only frustrated the US Administration but the multinational companies too. They have started joining heads to mull the future strategy.

It is high time, the Obama Administration reviews its policies on economic hegemony in collaboration with corporate sector, and rid the people of their greed, else they would have to meet the same fate met by the Arab monarchs, who used to consider themselves as all-powerful.