The presidency of Donald Trump has been noteworthy for its speed. In his first week in office the new president has already put in motion some of his most controversial campaign promises.
But the public’s reaction has been just as fast.
Since the so-called ‘Muslim Ban’ thousands have rushed to airports across the US, summoned by frantic tweets and videos showing pro-bono lawyers working to get immigrants into the country.
In London there have been demonstrations at Downing Street and the US Embassy organised in a matter of days. Thousands have taken to the streets to protest Trump and Theresa May’s ‘special relationship’.
Posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites allow protestors to gather and create a unified voice. They can enjoy a feeling of acceptance, even before they start marching.
Real time posts via social media sites offer a raw look at what’s happening on the ground. Eliminating a lot of the editing and polishing that can dull mainstream news reports.
After demonstrations slogans on placards go viral on social media, such as ‘not today Satan’, ‘Trump is a wasteman’ and ‘we shall overcomb the Muslim ban’. There is even a ‘dogs against trump’ hashtag and Facebook page.
Sam Tollitt is part of the University College London Union’s Marxist Society. Although social media can play an integral role in organising demonstrations, he still thinks there are much bigger reasons why people are protesting.
He said: “Social media plays a huge part in organising and letting people know where the demonstrations are, you can get the information out quite quickly. But I think the reasons why people come out are a lot to do with coming out with a group, with friends or part of an organisation. A lot of people are angry. They’re not coming out because they are being told by social media; they’re coming out because they want to come out.”
Cameron Panting writes for Counterfire, a revolutionary socialist news and theory website. He feels that social media doesn’t generate that much work on the ground.
But, he said: “It has an effect on last minute things, suddenly on the day of the protest things suddenly go viral, lots of videos go out on Snapchat and Facebook. Loads of people turn up who weren’t planning to maybe a day or two before. That does have a big impact.”
He says you have to use the platform to organise in a more strategic way. “If you just have unilateral calling from one person that goes viral, it means you are not coordinating who’s at the demo, who’s speaking, and what different sections of society are there. Often it can be more middle class people that turn up, whereas you’ve got to make sure every section of the community is there.”
Mr Trump is enamoured of crowds, but now he faces protests from all sections of society around the globe. Even angry craftivists knitting ‘pussy hats’, Muslims praying on placards in airports and parody protest chants are going viral online.
It seems that for now, they’ve stolen the limelight for themselves.