The bombings and violence in cities like Mariupol, Kharkiv and Kyiv feature a cast of newly minted stars — social media standouts who rely on satire, grit and an insider’s sensibilities to document the horrors for a global audience. The Arab Spring in 2011 was widely seen as the first revolutionary movement launched on social media. Jane Lytvynenko, a senior research fellow at Harvard Kennedy’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, said social media have played a critical role in shaping the world’s reaction to Russia’s attack. She compared the Ukraine war to the Soviet-era artificial famine imposed by Moscow on Ukraine in the 1930s, which killed more than 4 million people. His selfie-style videos lend a “social media authenticity that is pretty unimpeachable,” said Eugene Kotlyarenko, a filmmaker who was born in Ukraine.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 01, 2022 21:43 UTC