#TwitterKurds organize first social media gathering
A group of Kurdish internet activists that have been organizing around the #TwitterKurds hashtag on twitter have come together for the first Kurdish Social Media Gathering on January 21st in London.
- The event, which was accessible through the #KSMG tag, was livestreamed and joined in via Skype and YouTube by those who could not be there physically, although there were participants who had traveled from as far as Australia to participate.
- Others who were not physically there commented on how they use the #TwitterKurds tag to communicate.
- Participants focused on social media strategies, twitter in particular, to attract attention to a given news story, as well as carry out a campaign.
- "2012 will be a big year for Kurdistan. We need to use social media effectively."
- Organizers then showed a video sent from Diyarbakır, introducing it with these words (approximate transcription): "(This video) has been sent to us for this gathering by Abdullah Demirbaş, who is the mayor of Sur Municipality in Diyarbakır. It's worth making a mention at this moment of a very important agency in Amed (Diyarbakır) called @AjansAmed - it's a new social media organization website, a group of social media activists who have put together these videos that you are seeing tonight. Abdullah Demirbaş was part of a campaign to get people tweeting. Every thursday we were tweeting #abdullahdemirbas, because he has a medical condition he needs to leave America for but he can't travel, because he -just saying it is ridiculous- published literature in 3 languages. He was taken to court and now he has a travel ban."
- Also screened was a video of solidarity from Japan: "For me social media is important because Japan does not get much news from that region through traditional media."
- One of the speakers was Mehmet, who works at Halkevi in London. His presentation also included strategies to use social media towards what he saw was beneficial to the Kurdish communities:"This gathering to me is one of the most important events of 2012. I work for Halkevi, the social media part at @halkevimedia, so social media is very important to me. I think we have been lacking in the social media area for quite a while and our numbers are not maximized, there are more Kurds on the internet but they are using it more for their personal stuff, but (social media can also be used) to create awareness and consciousness of Kurdish issues and democratic struggle of Kurdish people and people in the region.I want to talk about the importance of social media in diplomacy - we need to increase the social media effect in diplomatic spheres. We need to determine the agenda rather than having our agenda formed by outside events, such as arrests, operations, etc. We need to have our agenda and intitiate to lead rather than be led by political developments that constantly change. Also, we constantly tweet the same thing, it's not getting outside. We need to target certain individuals, for example Middle East correspondents of every single international media organization and MPs. Social media needs to be not seperate from grassroots, there are 2 hundred thousand Kurds in this country, we needed to have more people here. We need to use different strategies to engage them.Reactions to his presentation were quite positive.
- Next, @quzzulqurt from Turkey joined in via skype. He noted that "this (social media) is a big chance for us around the world to come together. Before there was only Roj TV but now we have this chance and must use it to create awareness, for non-Kurds and Kurds in the region."
