Facebook Users Hook Up—With Fellow Burmese Monk Backers

300K mobilize through social networking site
By J. Kelman,  Newser User
Posted Oct 5, 2007 1:50 PM CDT
Facebook Users Hook Up—With Fellow Burmese Monk Backers
The August, 20-27 double issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, August 13), "The Facebook Effect" looks at how Facebook, the wildly popular networking site is growing up and facing new challenges to become a fixture in the digital age; excerpts from the Newsweek/Kaplan "How to Get Into College Guide,"...   (Associated Press)

Mammoth networking site Facebook is triggering a massive mobilization of protesters around the world who will hit the streets this weekend in support of the Burmese monks, Wired writes. Nearly 300,000 people have joined the Facebook group "Support the Monks' Protest" since a story on the movement broke last week,  and thousands of those are expected to turn out for marches tomorrow in cities from Taipei to Vienna.

The movement—which some term "open-source politics"—highlights the evolution of the site, which has increasingly become a tool for activists. Over two dozen Facebook volunteers are working with activist organizations on the upcoming protests. "They're able to do things that we can't," said one organization leader. “They've been able to mobilize people.” (More Burma stories.)

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