Anna's campaign big hit on YouTube, Facebook & Twitter; unites Netizens

NEW DELHI: “My Dear Countrymen, the second freedom struggle has begun. I have been arrested as well. Will this struggle stop with my arrest? Absolutely not. You should not let that happen,” Anna Hazare said in a video message posted on YouTube within minutes of his arrest on Tuesday morning. The video was prepared before the arrest and was posted immediately afterwards, and dealt with the way forward for the movement. Hazare spoke about the ‘second line of leadership’ , naming Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Manish Sisodia and Shanti Bhushan, among others. There was no way of telling, at the time the video was shot, that the second rung leadership would also be arrested with Hazare.

Hazare appealed for calm among agitators. The protests must be nonviolent and care must be taken to not cause any damage to public or private property, he said in the video. He called for jails to be filled, a common refrain during his previous addresses as well. The pre-recorded video message was testimony to the India Against Corruption campaign’s media savvy. The movement uses social media platforms Facebook and Twitter very effectively, apart from its own regularly updated website Indiaagainstcorruption .org. The website has dedicated microsites for eight Indian cities and one for non-resident Indians.

The campaign’s Facebook page was frequently updated through the day and each update received hundreds of comments and these comment threads also acted as clearing houses of information. Information about the timing and venue of protests and contact numbers of coordinators were passed around through Facebook. The campaign also launched an appeal for supporters to SMS details to at least ten of their friends, creating an effective SMS campaign with details. The campaign’s Twitter account Twitter.com/Janlokpal also posted frequent updates and practical information .

Within hours of Hazare’s arrest, the hash tag #isupportannahazare became the top trending topic in India. Hash tags are tag lines used by Twitter users to indicate a common theme and trending topics are the most popular topics of discussion. Six of the top ten trending topics were related to the Hazare campaign.