Role of social media in EuroMaidan movement essential

From the
very beginning of the rally on Nov. 21, active Ukrainians communicated via such
social networks as Facebook and Twitter and organized themselves without the support
of politicians. “I am going to Maidan” was a popular post on that day, starting right after the government announced it halts preparations for signing a trade deal with the European Union.

The Facebook posts of Hromadske TV journalist Mustafa Nayem that followed, in
which he called on other to go to Independence Square got more than 1,000
shares in mere hours. As a result, upwards of three thousand Kyivans gathered
on the square late that night and occupied it till morning.

“The
appearance of EuroMaidan is an achievement of primarily, digital communications
in social networks and online media,” Maksym Savanevsky, founder of Watcher, a new
media website, wrote on Nov. 29. For instance, the number of visitors of
Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper that actively wrote about the rally nearly
doubled on Nov. 21, reaching 550,000 readers per day. However, the number of people
who visited Pravda’s website that day from links on Facebook increased nine
times.

The official
EuroMaidan Facebook page, created by journalists and civil activists, became
the fastest growing page in the Ukrainian segment of the social network. Since
its beginning late on Nov. 21, it has garnered more than 102,000 subscribers. During
the first days of the demonstrations the page appeared in the top 20 of
Ukrainian Facebook pages and became the most “talked about,” with almost
110,000 people who commented, liked or shared the page’s content.

Twitter,
which until now has been underutilized in Ukraine, finally became a main and
important source of information, simultaneously with Facebook. On Nov. 26 every
one or two seconds a message with the hashtag #euromaidan was posted, according
to Watcher website. On Nov. 21-28, the average number of Twitter posts that
mentioned the hashtag reached 1,500-3000 per hour.

But social
media is also a powerful tool for EuroMaidan opponents. According to
Savanevsky, a number of bots used the #euromaidan hashtag on Twitter to promote
similar provocative messages. “I was invited to EuroMaidan. Was offered Hr 100
(for participation). But I won’t go. I’d better go with my wife to the
theatre,” some users, including women, posted on Twitter using the hashtag.

Kyiv Post staff writer Kateryna Kapliuk can be reached at [email protected].