Social media and the Greek uprising

One of the most striking features of the recent series of revolts, rebellions and riots in Greece over the last few weeks has been the use of social media to relay events to a wider audience. What has been witnessed is a form of internet hyper - Darwinism in which the forces of change which usually take years have been compressed into a time frame measured in weeks.

Before the recent troubles the use of Twitter, blogs, video sharing services and the like was a pretty limited affair. Many of those on the Left, and much of Greek political life saw the internet as irrelevant as TV, newspapers, public meetings, leafleting and marches were the order of the day. Such a stance reflecting a general distrust of the medium, an extension of the Greek Left's ambivalent relationship with the media in general.

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