Last week I covered two new applications that are helping users to express support of both Palestinians and Israelis. The QassamCount application has grown to over 283,000 monthly active users and the STOP Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza application has surged to almost half a million users as of this morning. By tomorrow the application will likely be among the top hundred most active applications on Facebook.
This is the first time that an international conflict has driven so many users to applications on the Facebook platform. Even among the numerous global protests that we’ve covered on this site, none have taken advantage of the Facebook platform for distribution. One of the benefits of the platform is the viral social distribution which can rapidly expand an application’s reach.
Last night I saw numerous updates from both applications appear in my news feed. Status updates are the primary source that these two applications have used for expanding their reach. It appears that status updates are becoming an increasingly important component of the Facebook platform. Earlier this week I posted about Facebook’s CNN inauguration coverage and how status updates will be an integral component of the application being displayed on CNN.com Live.
Whether it’s a war or the inauguration of a new President, Facebook statuses are playing an increasing role in individuals’ online expression. In addition to status updates, groups are springing up that are attracting significant attention. This group which was created in support of Palestinians has attracted over 500,000 members.
Within the next 48 hours, installations of the two most popular applications for the Gaza war will surpass one million users, marking a major milestone for user expression on the Facebook platform. I’m sure we will only see more examples of Facebook being used to rally public support in the coming weeks, months, and years.
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The QassamCount application is very effective if you have a bunch of friends who support Israel. I have a picture on my blog showing only the fraction of friends that I have who are utilizing the QassamCount app. The post is here and it highlights, from the perspective of someone living in Jerusalem, the pluses and minuses of the application. For a post describing my general feelings of an American living in Jerusalem at this time, check this out. No matter what side of this issue one falls out on, I think we can all agree that the use of social networking is bringing a whole new, fascinating dimension to wars and social action in general.
Comment by David Fine — January 13, 2009 @ 8:53 am
according to facebook LEXICON israel winning on facebook because much more people are talking on Israel than Gaza!
Comment by Social Spin — January 13, 2009 @ 11:10 pm
I would rather see the missles hitting all the leaders of world's government instead of the innocents that are considered insignificant by the world leaders..
Comment by Tina Funk — January 16, 2009 @ 2:27 pm
sabar ya kawan."sesungguhnya allah bersama orang yang sabar".
Comment by ipin — November 7, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
Sabar ya kawan ini cuma sementara.Akhirat adalah hidup selamanya.
"Dan sesungguhnya allah bersama orang-ornag yang sabar".
Comment by Saifin Nun-ha Mirza — November 7, 2009 @ 2:43 pm