In the small worlds of media and politics, there is a shift of power.  This shift in power is due to the fact that media is anchored in democracy.  And that democracy is representative of the voice of the people, and the civil society. In American democracy and during the French Revolution, newspapers i.e. media played a significant role.  Through professionalism and independence, throughout the 20th century, newspapers were an indicator of 'development' and democracy.  Conversely media can be used to further other non-democratic agendas.  By inventing, a tailor-made propaganda for the Nazi regime, Joseph Goebbels had proven that he did not underestimate the power of information and the need for those who wanted to establish a dictatorial government to control it.  The Soviet regime did not disown these principles, but rather embraced them.

It has been a long way since that day in 2006 when a young Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, launched with two friends a social computer system enabling students on his campus to vote for the prettiest girls.  From a schoolboy joke, Web 2.0 has recently emerged as a formidable weapon for democracy.  Over the last couple of years Iran, Tunisia and Egypt, have consecrated and raised a new use of social networks as sources of information, a system of insurgency, self-organization and legitimation for democratic revolts.  Facebook and twitter are a force to be taken into account as people fight for Democracy around the world.

Everyone expected Gbagbo’s government to cut Internet access at some point, but he did not.  And this is because Gbagbo’s government realized the golden opportunity offered by the Internet and social media to spread propaganda outside the confines of Côte d’Ivoire.  Gbagbo’s government was not going to be outdone in this arena, no expenses were spared, and expert social media users were brought in. Gbagbo’s supporters had an incredible advance with their formidable Facebook strategy.

But unlike the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt where Facebook and Twitter have been relaying the almost unanimous vox populi in its desire to oust the strongmen in power, the use of social networks in Côte d'Ivoire follows a political conflict which divides society into two camps of comparable size.

How, then, did the Ivoirians use social media in this crisis? The story unfolds in several stages, November 28, 2010 — the second round of presidential election — being the pivotal date.

Before 28/11/10: democratic aspirations and ICT4D

On Twitter Mohamed Diaby and Jean-Patrick Ehouman created with others the #civ2010 hashtag, the Wonzomai.com site with its Twitter account @wonzomai.  In Bete Wonzomaï, means sentinel and/or the one who reports information that are of interest to the whole community.  Their ambition was to create a citizen watchdog for democracy.

Here is how Nnenna Nwakanma described it:

The tag was kicked off on Twitter around October 2010. The idea was to get citizens interested in the upcoming elections to use it. So we used it as a monitoring tag for the campaigns and all the surrounding issues of the first presidential elections in the Côte d’Ivoire. Having been there from the beginning, I must say, I enjoyed the early days of #civ2010.

At the start of the crisis people used their given names and photos, as the crisis progressed, with no end in sight, aliases and avatars representing prominent members of each camp were the norm.  Discussions on Facebook and twitter about the crisis where often heated, with each party unyielding to the other on why their man should stay (Gbagbo) or be allowed to assume his duties (Ouattara).

As of November 28th, Nnenna Nwakanma continues:

Then the run off on November 28th and the “the walls came tumbling down”. What a great transformation of the tag.  It has gone from citizen watch and reporting space to a kind of association of folks who have something in common: someone or something they hate! Granted, the war is raging on the streets of Abidjan, but the war on Twitter is equally viral.

After the first march on December 16 to free the Ivoirian Public Television (RTI) which ended in bloodbath, Mohamed Diaby, hosted a livechat hoping to promote peace.  The livechat as described by Global Voices Online:

Responding to the call of Diaby Mohamed for a brainstorming on the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, Ivoirian Internet users decided to take action for peace in their country.  The Facebook group “For Peace, nothing but Peace in Côte d'Ivoire” was created to promote “Opération Bougie et symbole blanc pour la paix“(fr) (Operation Candlelight and white symbol for peace) from December 22-24.  Nnenna writes that 450 people joined in less than 3 hours.

The users of these social medias are e-activists that have used their technological know-how to report on the scenes in their neighborhoods’ with minute by minute accounts of what, who, where, why, how of the events on the ground were unfolding, thus giving the Diaspora and the press following #civ2010 a glimpse into the day to day scenes and horrors of the crisis.  These e-activists told a story; a story with a personal face for the Diaspora.  In a way, these e-activists were “griots” like their forefathers.

Each month of the crisis seem dominated by a particular theme.  For example, in December, the Ivoirian Constitution was front and center, proponents of each party played constitutional law experts, people quoted Article 64 as it was their birth year.  This was a watershed moment, as for the first time, people were interested and sought to understand laws governing elections, and elections results in particular.

Stories of abuses of Côte d’Ivoire’s national resources by Gbagbo and his cohorts were rampant on Facebook walls and Twitter.  What was uncanny was that Gbagbo’s supporters never attempted to deny these abuses; instead they just provided unrelated rebuttals to dismiss Ouattara’s claim to the presidency.  Ouattara was viewed by Gbagbo’s supporters as a foreigner, therefore undeserving of the presidency in Côte d’Ivoire.  Their stance was in denial with the fact that run-off elections were held on November 28, 2010 and that Ouattara had won.

News break on Twitter

It is on Twitter on February, 27th that we first learned that the Ivorian public television had stopped broadcasting in Abidjan which was later confirmed by the international media.

Quickly #civ2010 became a trending topic in the francophone twittosphere (for four consecutive months).

On #civ2010, despite the harsh debates people flatter themselves for being serious, respectful and challenging.  Opinions are given with sources or evidence. The community was surprised by its success. The influence of #civ2010 is such that it became a major media sources.  Followed by journalists who even followed some individuals such as @Sanders225 who became a must.

The debate gains in pugnacity

As of March 3rd 2011, with the massacre of 7 women by machine guns in Abobo and African Union’s resolutions confirming the election of Ouattara, social networks became almost entirely a war communication.  There was less tangible information in the tidal wave of false alerts and outright disinformation.  When markets and houses were shelled by Gbagbo’s soldiers and the flood of refugees approached 1 million, the e-activists, desperately needed guidance.

Both parties then sent on #civ2010 two heavyweights. They knew that they could rely on seasoned tweeples to relay the good word.  They both were – and this is probably their only common point – advised by strong information and communication professionals:

@toussaintalain (Laurent Gbagbo’s Adviser) delivering hoaxes, insulting people was quickly made to leave.

@alainlobog (Ivorian politician whose ambition is to serve his country, Côte d'Ivoire, and to contribute to the progress of Ivoirians) who gives sound information and fares better but whose account was been suspended for several hours as he was probably reported as a spammer by Gbagbo’s camp.

Then the fight reached the point where news was soon drowned in invective. The Abobo tragedy, kidnapping during curfew by Gbagbo’s mercenaries and the increasingly deadly retaliation against any form of opposition, burning of foreigners by the Young Patriots and the Abobo’s commando invisible brutal insurgency ignited the debate.

In this context, people had to be cautious as they feel  could not be said on twitter.  The Facebook walls became private.  People changed their username, their avatar, created new profile for the fight.  The cyberconflit gained in intensity and the war of information became intelligence and propaganda.  Because if some gathered strategic information and conquered plans in the shadow, other Facebook pages, including those held by propaganda Gbagbo’s advisers Alain Toussaint, Abel Naki and Charles Ble Goude, were public, to better instill the official scenarios to their activists.

As, the liberation war conducted by President Ouattara’s militaries reached Abidjan’s gates, tension escalated and violence became visible even in the posh Cocody and Plateau neighborhoods, where most internet users live, thus the suffering tainted twitter’s virtual battlefield.

Laughter through tears.

The subject matter was not always about the crisis, as with every human story, virtual or real, humor and love have a way to snick-in when you least expect it, laughter through tears, love through sorrow.  People of Côte d’Ivoire are renowned for their “joie de vivre” and their sense of humor.  That “joie de vivre” and sense of humor were displayed on Facebook and Twitter.

For exemple, on February 26th a Twitter profile, named @Batelier59 wrote: Gbagbo Laurent, j'ai une question : les massacres d'Abobo, c'est quelle page dans la Bible ? J'arrive pas à retrouver ! (translation: Laurent Gbagbo, I have a question: the massacres of Abobo which page of the Bible is that in, I cannot find it); an inference to Gbagbo’s claim of being a Christian.

Another Twitter profile read @nightsnake1975: Nous y avons cru, nous y sommes allés. Nous pensions voir le bout du tunnel. GBAGBO a mis un grillage. On ne peut plus en sortir.  (translation: we believed, we went, and we thought that the light was at the end of the tunnel, but Gbagbo put a barricade, and we cannot get out).  This is a reference to the fact that the elections would have put an end to Gbagbo overstaying his welcome as President of Côte d’Ivoire.

As a new leaf turns in Côte d’Ivoire one can certainly hope that “laughter through tears, and love through sorrow will bring about reconciliation and long lasting peace.

Twitter is healing the wounds

On April 2 a new hashtag created by @cartunelo, @yoraba and @furato appeared #civsocial (Mohamed Diaby and Nnena Nwakanma are part of the group). #civsocial provides concrete solutions, practical assistance to victims of the crisis.

The future? For many users, the #civ2010 experience has been an opportunity for empowerment and the discovery of citizen power.

This implies that there is a willingness from the people to move from passive actors of the political scene to active participants.  The change has serious implications, in that the new administration should seek to bring people closer to their government and refrain from the top-down decision making model that further alienates and keeps the populace passive in all aspects of citizenry.

Assuming that the Internet usage increased as a result of the crisis in Cote D’Ivoire, we can safely conclude that going forward, social media will play a significant and increasing role as the people of Côte d’Ivoire make sourcing decisions for the manner in which they get their news.  This is a game changer, as most people in Côte d’Ivoire, not too long ago relied on state controlled TV as their main source of information.  The whole relationship of a single and poor quality news source is forever gone.  We are confident that the crisis will raise the discourse level. Furthermore, these social media will play a greater role as printed publications become quickly outdated and people seek more current and pertinent news sources.

With Marie Headley and Emmanuel Letourneux.

The first users on #civ2010

Witty remarks from mostly the #civ2010 twitter tag but also other sources