Sunday, October 30, 2011

#OccupyEverywhere

Hello folks,

I haven't had much time to write on my blog, mainly because I have been busy following the #Occupy movement from fairly early on. What started as a small group as #OccupyWallstreet has now turned into a worldwide movement, and I am quite happy to see it grow. It is time the people speak out against everything that is wrong with our economy. It is time the people get together for a better future, and this may very well be the movement that finally gets this done.

Shockingly enough though, despite the masses of protesters, the mainstream media is barely covering this important issue. I have just today talked to a friend in the US who was not at all aware that anything at all was going on, and I do think it's time to change this. The coverage is done mostly via social media and we need to think of those friends of ours not too familiar with today's social media. Please speak to them about #OccupyEverywhere and show them what is going on. Perhaps even teach them how they themselves can keep up with the actual news, not the fake stuff that is presented by the likes of Fox News.

A few tips how to stay informed:

If you do not have a twitter account yet, you might want to sign up for one. Go to http://www.twitter.com and sign up. While you can follow topics, which are marked with a # symbol from the regular twitter page, it is much easier to use a client such as TweetDeck, which you can download at http://www.tweetdeck.com. TweetDeck will open a new column for every # topic you decide to follow. Either way though, you should keep an eye on the following tags: #ows #occupywallstreet #occupyeverywhere and respectively the tags for your area, such as #occupydenver #occupyoakland etc.

Following post with these tags you will often find links to images, videos, even livestreams of what's currently going on. You can retweet them or otherwise spread the links to your friends and family. It is important that we all spread the news, especially to those who are NOT connected to any social media themselves.

For those of you already following everything that wish to help out somehow but don't know how to:

Almost all the #Occupy camps are in desperate need of donations, be it food, hygiene articles or clothing. If there is no local #Occupy camp in your area, but you would like to help out those in NewYork, I have a contact there who agreed to forward anything sent to him to the protesters there, so feel free to get in touch with me to ask where to send things to. Even if you can't donate any items, these folks would be very happy to receive letters of encouragement so they can see the world is watching and appreciating them.

If you are really brave, go pack up your tent, sleeping bag, warm clothing and what else you may need, and join them! The more people are participating, the less our governments can ignore us! I am going to head out next week to pitch my tent with the folks of #OccupyFrankfurt and am already looking forward to it.

If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to get in touch. I may not know all the answers, but I will gladly help you find them.

To those already in the camps: Stay strong, stay united! We're all proud of you and appreciate everything you do for a better future for ourselves and our children!

Lots of love,
Fel