I wrote this article for the MAAS June 2010 newsletter. Uranus was about to move from Pisces to Aries. At the end I write “I don’t think anyone could deny the potential to organize and mobilize on Social Network sites (SNS), but the online social movement is still in its infancy and there’s still a lot to learn.” That was 2010, so what have we learned? While Uranus was moving through Aries, Social Media Networks became a political battle ground and as Uranus moved through Taurus the troops dug in and individuals became buried in hateful and potentially radicalizing content. Now, 64% of U.S. adults think social media has had a bad impact. And a large share of Americans consider social media divisive. One can only imagine what will happen with Pluto in Aquarius and its ruler, Uranus, moving through Gemini. Not to mention the addition of AI on SNSs. – Patricia
By the end of 2003, Uranus, the planet of technological revolution, had entered the sign of Pisces for a 7 year stay. Pisces urges us towards transcendence, movement beyond the normal or the accepted framework of reality and to form connections with all that is. This change of sign by Uranus presaged a major shift in our awareness and the events of our lives.
There were already a few social network sites (SNS) launched before 2003. However, from 2003 onward we experienced a revolution in our ability to connect to all that is. The many new and innovative SNSs launched since that time have grown rapidly to become an important part of our everyday lives.
While most SNSs began by connecting friend with friend they soon expanded to connect strangers with similar interests and like minds. However, Twitter is unique because it connects everyone to what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world. It provides instant news and information that allows individuals to stay updated, connect and be connected to what’s happening in real time.
Uranus is often thought of as the higher octave of Mercury, the messenger and communicator. The role of Uranus is to shake things up, push for new methods, and expand global consciousness. Clearly, SNSs are a Uranus in Pisces breakthrough, shattering the norm. They have changed the way we communicate, make friends, get news and participate in the world.
Uranus is computers, connections, and large groups, while Pisces knows no boundaries. Combine these two, and you get individuals sharing feelings and experiences through their status updates, blogs, and short messages. SNSs have given us license to express, reveal and acquire information and knowledge in a way that has never been possible before.
Twitter and Politics
A study done by Digital Daya, “Real Leader’s Tweet” (PDF), notes that “15 percent of the world’s 163 countries are now represented by their political leaders or governments on Twitter, among its findings was that “fragile’ nations – those with a high degree of political instability – are likely to consider social media as a threat.”
Now it seems that after some hesitation even the controversial Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, is embracing uncensored citizen participation and daring to take his ideological fights to the social networking world.
Earlier this year Venezuelans took to Twitter to protest threats to journalism and freedom of expression, making the hashtag #freevenezuela one of the largest trending Twitter topics for a time. President Hugo Chavez responded to the outpouring of messages, many of which called for his resignation along with expanded freedom of the press, by asking the National Assembly to start preparing legislation that would regulate the Internet.
It seemed Chavez perceived social networks such as Twitter to be threats to the state, and Twitter messages a “tool of terror.” In mid-March, according to Reuters, Chavez believed: “The Internet cannot be something open where anything is said and done. Every country has to apply its own rules and norms.”
Chavez Gone Wild?
Chavez now says: “The potential this has … it’s not capitalist, it’s not socialist, it depends on how it is used.” Now Twitter has become “a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution.”
Yes, Hugo Chavez has entered the ranks of the politically stable by joining Twitter on Tuesday April 27th, 2010. Curiously, Chavez’s profile name, @chavezcandaga, combines his own name with the word “candanga,” which in Venezuela is used to refer to someone naughty or wild.
Chavez gone wild? Perhaps. It also seems that public engagement with the president’s new online presence has been high. In less than 2 weeks Chavez tallied up over 237,000 followers and has a newly appointed team of 200 Twitter aides to handle the over 50,000 messages he’s received since he’s been tweeting. Additionally, according to Reuters, Hugo Chavez said during a visit to Bolivia that he would like to invite Bolivian President Evo Morales and Cuban political leader Fidel Castro to join him on Twitter.
Uranus in Aries – Twitter “a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution?”
Uranus will move briefly into Aries on May 29 2010 and will stay until August 15, 2010, then it will return to Pisces until March of 2011- at which time it will settle into Aries for the next seven years. Aries is a bold, aggressive and dynamic fire sign that rules war and the military.
Cyberspace is governed by the planet Uranus. As Uranus moves through Aries the world can expect advances in the technology of war, cyber warfare to become ever more aggressive and cyberspace to become the new battlefield. But could cyberspace also become the new venue for social protests and revolution?
Uranus in Pisces Has Altered the Collective Environment ~ Uranus in Aries Will Spark Action.
Information and communication technologies are already facilitating collective (Uranus) action (Aries) in ways never before possible. The Internet has enabled groups (Uranus) previously incapable of political action (Aries) to have a voice.
Like minded people from distant places are now able to locate and converse with one another, and as a result the ability to mobilize broad social action is possible. Uranus in Pisces brought a revolution in social connection that will allow for the social action that will grow as Uranus moves through Aries. We’ve had hints of Twitter’s ability to mobilize action… Remember the Iran elections? Iran Elections: A Twitter Revolution?
The Social Network Movement Could Be the 21st Century Version of the “Chautauqua” Movement”
In an important new book, The Last, Lost Empire, the authors write:
“periodically when things got real bad for a great majority of Americans, there were “surges” of political “reformism” that swept the nation. But those reforms didn’t come out of thin air. What made the political machinery actually get into gear and make a lot of changes in the way government worked were a network of public meetings and/or assemblies where politicians, authors, political activists would speak and draw large crowds.
Perhaps the most famous of this kind of institution of public talk was the “Chautauqua” movement which lasted through the Populist and Progressive movements from the 1870s right through the 1920s.”
Collective Action
The Internet has given everyone a voice and a place to have it heard. It has also significantly lowered the cost of organizing collective action, so groups and movements that lack funding are able to rally individuals around causes and issues as never before.
How Political and Social Movements Form on the Internet and How They Change Over Time, a report by Homeland Security says: “It is relevant that when the groups’ purposes are political, the benefits of Internet use may be greater than when their purposes are nonpolitical”
It is clear that individuals of like mind can connect and organize like never before – but will this change anything? In the recent protests regarding the Iranian election, the final outcome was ultimately not changed, as many had hoped. But I don’t think anyone could deny that the potential to organize and mobilize on SNSs exists. Still, the online social movement is in its infancy and there’s a lot to learn.