Richard Hanley, assistant professor of e-media at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, is studying the use of information technology by anti-Iraq war protesters. "The technology-saturated generation has done an amazing job using cell phones, e-mail, message boards, Web sites, list serves and other means to organize and amplify their protest message," he says.
"This is a case of very smart people using technology to achieve a very targeted end," he adds, "and they've taken the application of technology to a high level of perfection."
Older Americans uncomfortable with technology but also opposed to war with Iraq are becoming more fluent in electronic communication as a result, he says. "Many anti-war baby boomers, previously not interested in going beyond the occasional e-mail, are now embracing the technology to stay informed, send messages or take part in rallies."
Today's technology eliminates many of the logistical difficulties of the Vietnam-war era, according to Hanley. "It offers new tools to organize protests, address important details, alert the media, keep news outlets in your planning group, develop pre-event interviews between protest organizers and reporters, arrange transportation to and from protest sites."
He says technology has also filled an important void: "During Vietnam, the draft was the main catalyst that united those opposed to the war...technology has replaced the draft as that catalyst today."
Perhaps most importantly, Hanley points out, new technology allows anti-war protesters to form and maintain a united message. "You can send one message to a million people who then proliferate that message to hundreds of subgroups--with everyone getting and staying on the same page."
Without the widespread availability of technology, Hanley says, he doubts the anti-war movement would have become unified so quickly.
"Imagine having to lick envelopes, make hundreds of phone calls, even send dozens of faxes," he says. "As everyone shares information electronically with links to position papers, strategies and tactics...it really amplifies the message."
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