7thriv

Impoverished Moldovan youths, using Facebook and Twitter as organizing tools, have rioted against the stultifying reign of their elders who can't let go of the impoverished certainties of the Communist era: Protests in Moldova Explode, With Help of Twitter:

A crowd of more than 10,000 young Moldovans materialized seemingly out of nowhere on Tuesday to protest againstMoldova’s Communist leadership, ransacking government buildings and clashing with the police.

The sea of young people reflected the deep generation gap that has developed in Moldova, and the protesters used their generation’s tools, gathering the crowd by enlisting text-messaging, Facebook and Twitter, the social messaging network.

The protesters created their own searchable tag on Twitter, rallying Moldovans to join and propelling events in this small former Soviet state onto a Twitter list of newly popular topics, so people around the world could keep track.