#OWS: A Revolution in Tweets
By Wennie Chi
About the Author
Hello, my name is Wennie Chi. I’m currently a student at the University of Cincinnati studying industrial design and enrolled in an Intermediate
Composition
class.
I’ve been following the Occupy Wall Street movement since October, and really fell in love with the movement.
Chapters Introduction
1
The Beginning
3
The First Occupation
5
The Introduction of Pepper Spray
7
Arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge
9
Global Day of Protest
13
Eviction of Occupy Oakland
15
Violence at UC Berkley
16
Eviction of Zuccotti Park and the Media Blackout
17
Pepper Sray at UC Davis
21
Conclusion
23
Introduction I was introduced to the events via Twitter, a website that allows people to host
their own virtual announcement board. The service is free, and each announcement
board is personalized by each user who is allowed to post their own news as well
as follow as many other users as they would like. The messages are limited to 140 characters, which keeps the announcements short and to-the-point. Another
unique feature of this system is the ability to label the announcements or to add “hashtags� in order for the messages to be easily tracked by others. People can use these hashtags to find more announcements or users that share the same topic. This quick and effortless method of worldwide news streaming helps news spread fast.
There’s no denying that Twitter has become an invaluable resource for the Occupy Wall Street movement. What Twitter offers is a quick and easy way to publish updates and spread news. The 140 character limit keeps the messages short and concise so that readers can digest the announcements just as quickly. And with the way technology is streamlining, ‘tweeting’ has become only a click away via cellphone. People who are interested can look up Occupy-related hashtags such as #OWS, #OccupyBoston, or #WeThePeople to find out what is going on. Or they can follow specific Twitter Accounts such as OccupyLA. If there are any changes to the agenda they might find something like this in their Twitter feed: “Occupiers if you are still at City Hall, move over to 350 S. Grand for the march! #occupyLA” (Oct 6 OccupyLA).The ability for Occupiers to tweet on the go is essential considering these people are out in the streets and in the parks protesting, and don’t quite have the time or resources to make long blog posts or send a newsletter. It has also been a large player in publicizing the events. People live-tweeting at protest sites, sharing photos, links to articles or videos, and hashtagging these with Occupy-related tags linking them to a larger community.
The Beginning Occupy Wall Street spawned from the activist group Adbusters who posted a blog post in July calling for a “shift in revolutionary tactics”.
Jul. 13
Inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Spain, the assembly of thousands of people in New York City was described in the proposal. Within the next week, OccupyWallSt.org was launched along with a Twitter and the
Jul. 24
hashtag “#occupywallst” to promot the first demonstration on September 17. The hacktivist group Anonymous jumps aboard #occupywallst, releasing a video and tweeting to support and promote the September 17 demonstration.
Aug. 23
The First Occupation September 17 marks the first day of Occupy Wall Street. Close to 1,000 people gathered in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to participate in this first march. The NYPD quickly prohibited the use of tents so the 100 to 200 protestors who remained on site slept in cardboard boxes over night. Soon the encampment will have its own kitchen and work on a steady food supply chain as well as build a library and get WiFi.
#occupywallst #takewallst #sep17
Sept. 17
“
TODAY: Hundreds expected to #OccupyWallStreet in peaceful NYC protest & beyond. t.co/NsglG6fg Follow @ samalcoff for reports. #Sept17
democracynow
“
March starting RIGHT NOW! Join us!! #takewallst#sep17 OccupyWallStNYC
“
If anybody needs me I’ll be on Wall St : ) #iwilloccupy #occupywallstreet @OccupyWallSt @OccupyWallStNYC LupeFiasco
“
The Police ask to speak to the leader. We told them that there is no leader. They didn’t understand. #TakeWallStreet #OccupyWallStreet #Sep17
anonops
The Introduction of Pepper Spray Septermber 24 starts the second week of the young Occupy movement. The public is amazed to see this demonstration to still be going on and also to be growing larger. Today, 80 protesters are arrested, and a video of a police officer pepper spraying a nonthreatening woman goes viral.
#occupywallst #takewallst #NYPD #USDOR
Sept. 24
“
few of the people i spoke to said they found out about #OccupyWallStreet by accident. they all said they were there to bear witness
blogdiva
“
@OccupyWallStNYC WE HAVE JUST MADE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE @NYDAILYNEWS #occupywallst #NYC http://yfrog.com/nvlt9twj
subversionletic
“
The peaceful #OccupyWallStreet protest march turned violent as the NYPD coralled and pepper sprayed the participants j.mp/q65ZEF
TPB_Stun
“
More than 50 ppl arrested 5 women maced in the face #nypd #usdor OccupyWallStNYC
Arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge On Saturday, October 1st, over 5,000 people marched towards the Brooklyn Bridge. The march was intervened by police who arrested over 700 protestors. Traffic on the bridge was shut down for 2 hours to make room for all of the arrests. The remaining protestors returned to Zuccotti Park. On a side note, the “Occupied Wall Street Journal” debuts with an initial print of 50,000 of its first issue and then a second printing of 20,000 Monday. This was the answer to protestors’ complaints of the mainstream media not covering events sufficiently.
#occupywallst #occupywallstreet #takewallst #NYC
Oct. 1
“
New arrest figures from the police: “400 to 500.” All charged with disorderly conduct, at minimum. #OccupyWallStreet NYTMetro
“
Would have made more sense to let us walk off bridge peacefully. Taking a long time to arrest. #occupywallstreet #wiunion
BatmanWI
“
Ill be arrested momentarily. See ya’ll soon #OccupyWallSt #OccupyWallstreet jopauca
“
Okay Im signing off bout to be arrested on bridge #occupywallstreet jeffrae
Oct 15 Global Day of Protest On October 15, people gathered in cities all across the world for an international day of action. Tens of thousands of people actively marched and protested today as a unified voice to be recognized as a force to be reckoned with. Cities around the world including Sydney, London, Hong Kong, Paris, Madrid, Puerto Rico, Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. Overall the protestors maintained a peaceful demonstration that ended in hundreds of arrests.
#globalchange #15o #o15 #oct15 #15oct
1000+ cities & 82 countries
Oct. 15
“
We are here #OccupyCapeTown beautiful people great voices real conversations http://yfrog.com/kkiqcyzj occupyafrica
“
#Barcelona, of course!, is going to streets as well http:// twitpic.com/70qosz! #OccupyTogether for #GlobalChange #15O #O15 #15Oct #Oct15
takethesquare
“
Check out Madrid, its huge. Predictions that Sol wil be ful once more are coming http://yfrog.com/ochetej takethesquare
“
@OccupyBrisbane A chilly 4am in City Sq in the first 24hrs of @OccupyMELBOURNE sees about 120 camping, chatting, sleeping, occupying #15O
OccupyAusUnions
Eviction of Occupy Oakland On October 25, hundreds of police officers in Oakland, California move in to clear the Occupy Oakland encampent. The means were far from nonviolent. Police used teargas, beanbag rounds, and rubber bullets in the operation. This eviction resulted in a severe injury. Former Marine and Iraq Veteran Scott Olsen suffered a skull fracture from one of the projectile smoke canisters thrown by the police officers. After a time in intensive care, Scott Olsen’s injury eventually resulted in his death. Meanwhile, the official press release by the police chief stated that the operation was successful in avoiding any injuries of the officers or the protestors.
#occupyoakland #solidarity
Oct. 25
“
POLICE JUST FLASH BANGED US. Smoke everywhere. People running. (Including me.) #occupyoakland JacqKD
“
zero windows smashed, 2,400 arrested nationwide. #ows is peaceful, what are you, police? #occupyoakland FourYawkeyWay
“
#occupyoakland attacked by 500 cops in surprise assault. tear gas, rubber bullets, shotguns, flash bang grenades. Many injured.
occupyoakland
“
Eyes.burning. throats on fire. Tear gassed. #occupyoakland Ppl crying and coughing northoaklandnow
Occupy Berkley On November 9, protestors head to UC Berkeley campus and starts to set up a new encampment. The university campus police was immediately ordered to break up the Occupy Berkeley encampment and demand removal of tents.Video footage reveals that the “nudges� officers used to coral the protesters were clearly much less of a nudging and more of a violent jabbing. Officers broke students ribs with their batons. Forty protesters were arrested, and many injured.
#occupy #occupycal #ows #solidarity
Nov. 9
“
While #occupycal is fighting budget cuts, Penn state students are rioting to support an enable of a child molester #homestateshame
Mike Elk
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Six students busted, dozens beaten by campus cops. For rallying against tuition hikes on the quad. #OccupyCal Angela Johnston
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This video of #OccupyCal police violence from today is pretty shocking t.co/O1bRm7XH #OWS Lucy Kafanov
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I’m getting sick of America’s War on Tents t.co/rqXBrZo3 #Occupy #Solidarity #OccupyCal jeffrae
Eviction of Zucotti Park and the Media Black out In the wee hours of November 15, hundreds of police officers militarized around New York City’s Zuccotti Park. Ordered by the Mayor Bloomberg, police were operating under the orders of Mayor Bloomberg to evict of the OWS demonstration from the park. The most controversial aspect of the operation was the forceful measures taken to prohibit any media coverage of the event. About 200 people were arrested including many journalists who were just doing their job.
#occupy #nypd #ows #mediablackout
Nov. 15
“
Helicopters all over the place, riot police breaking up OWS, media ban, camera phones saving America #occupy #OWS phalic macdonald
“
Apparently the NYPD have destroyed the donated library at #ows - I don’t think you need a metaphor, but crushing 5000 books might be one.
Simon HB
“
RT @Mike_Dougherty: wapo.st/R0fLu #MediaBlackout @ MikeBloomberg & NYPD violate 1st amendment, ban press from #OWS eviction
SethGreen
“
Lots of cries to stay nonviolent. “This is a mvmnt about being good to each other. We are exercising our right to peaceable assemble.” #OWS
DiceyTroop
Pepper Spraying at UC Davis On November 18, video footage of police brutality on the UC Davis campus was captured and published all over Youtube. The video shows a group of students seated on the ground surrounded by a group of police and other Occupiers. A member of the police force walks out from the crowd displaying the bottle of pepper spray in his hand before spraying it onto the seated students. Most of the students had their heads down, but several were hit directly in the face. The victims and the crowd were helpless to retaliate.
#occupydavis #occupycal #ows #ucdavis
Nov. 18
“
“He sprayed us at point blank range”: @xeni’s interview with #OccupyDavis protester: t.co/MBkWHwoT Gavin Aronsen
“
What country are we in? Syria? China? No, it’s the good ol’ USA where ridiculous police action is tolerated. t.co/6lSZCfta
Matt Kowalczyk
“
“What I’m looking at is fairly standard police procedure.” What the actual fuck. goo.gl/82p9u #UCDavis #occupy #ows
Wil Wheaton
“
No matter what side of the Occupy movement you occupy, this article is worth the read: Militarization of Campus Police huff.to/tzTFbK
chaswied
Conclusion The Occupy Wall Street movement worked in harmony with the internet and its function as a global connector and sharing platform. Much of OWS news is spread through the social networking site Twitter. Twitter’s function as a news reporter works especially well with the movement’s needs and ideals. Plus, the growth and development of Occupy Wall Street movement can easily be tracked with through advent of the technology Twitter offers.
The instantaneous nature of Twitter with its constantly updating feed and the speed
of its response makes it a great resource for live updates and time sensitive announcements. A movement as large as Occupy Wall St and as unestablished, lacking in a central headquarter, relies on technology like Twitter to figure out what is going on! The crowds out there can be so big, that you can’t see past the sea of people. In case something is happening on the front lines, it’s so much easier to find updated Tweets on a cell phone.
The use of hashtags makes it wonderfully easy to spread information to those who
may be interested but may not know where to find it or be in the right network. The way hashtags are used to link similar ideas to each other means people can find out what they need more quickly and more easily.
Twitter isn’t just aiding the people within the movement, it’s also a resource for many
people not involved. News like #OWS spreads like wildfire and can go viral pretty quickly, especially the events that involved police brutality. Links to video footage or images or articles discussing the demonstrations serve as great way to spread awareness of the movement and spark interests in people. I know that’s what happened to me. Thanks to Twitter I went from a clueless outsider to an active follower. It’s amazing what technology can do today. Occupy Wall Street would not have had the same success with out it!