Wednesday, 21 September 2011

TWEETS NOT WAR: LEARNING FROM THE ARAB SPRING

ANTI-WAR SPEAKOUT/TWEETOUT   
7:30PM UNIVERSITY OF LONDON UNION   
MALET STREET LONDON WC1E 7HY   
For more details, see: http://bit.ly/n9X9qz

Whether you attend the Antiwar SpeakOut/TweetOut in person in    
London, or you watch the live stream on the Stop the War website,   
this is an event not to be missed.

You will see poets, rappers and spoken word artists (see below)   
performing at a Twitter convention in which everyone can   
participate.

Don't worry if you are not a Twitter user yet. This will be an     
event in which you can learn how it works and why it has become   
such an important tool for activists and campaigners, not least   
as was shown in the Arab Spring uprisings. It is today enabling   
instant eyewitness reports of the brutal crackdown on the Yemen   
democracy movement.

Stop the War has taken the idea of a TweetOut from the Egyptian   
democracy movement, which used them to spread the word about   
their protests.

As well as enjoying the brilliant cast of spoken word artists    
performing for Stop the War, the aim will be to publicise as   
widely as possible in the Twittersphere the Antiwar Mass Assembly   
in Trafalgar Square on 8 October, marking the tenth anniversary   
of the war in Afghanistan.

If you're coming to the SpeakOt/TweetOut in person, come armed     
with your mobile! Or your laptop, if you want to be really   
ambitious (there will be a WiFi link).

If you're not a Twitter user yet, you will be able to text your   
messages which Stop the War will turn instantly into tweets for   
display on the Tweet Screen and publish directly to Twitter.

The performers in the SpeakOut include author Michael Rosen, who   
was until recently the Children's Poet Laureate, poets Michael     
Horowitz, Michael Powell and Sanasino Al-Yemen, rapper Jimmy   
Jitsu, and many more.

Twitter users at the event, and those following it on the live     
stream, are asked to use the hashtag #8oct (non Twitter users    
will learn what a hashtag is on the night!).

Tweeters will also be reacting to the spoken word artists,   
whether watching them in the audience or the live stream, and    
instantly communicating with their Twitter followers about the     
performances.

The aim is to make SpeakOut/TweetOut as interactive as possible   
and as much a collective event as we can. Join us in person if     
you live in London, or online if you don't.

ANTI-WAR SPEAKOUT/TWEETOUT   
7:30PM UNIVERSITY OF LONDON UNION   
MALET STREET LONDON WC1E 7HY   
For more details, see: http://bit.ly/n9X9qz

No comments: