Co-Founder of Huffington Post’s "Twitter Powerhouses Series": During Wartime Social Media Can Organize People (Exclusive)

• 03.23.2017, 19:10
•  Armenia,  Interview

"Armedia" IAA presents an exclusive interview with Sean Gardner, Co-founder of Huffington Post’s "Twitter Powerhouses Series" (USA). The interview is taken in the framework of the World Communication Forum Davos held in Yerevan on March 21-22. The Forum in Armenia was organized by Armenian Public Relations Association.

- Mr. Gardner, what do you think, do the social media play a great role during the time of emergency, wartime?

- Social media is the first communication tool in the world. It is very powerful. This region is going to see a boom in the next 5 or 10 years in this regard. As for the role of social media during the time of emergency or wartime, then it can connect people, due to social media people can be organized. You can use info-graphics, charts coming from official sites or official sources and post them on social media.

There is a good article of how social media could have impacted 9/11. It tells how social media could have organized people after 9/11, because there was chaos, tremendous chaos. 

- Don’t you think that during the times of emergency, wartime certain restrictions of social media are needed, because many times they become hindering and not helping tools?

- Even if there are restrictions, people can use VPN (Virtual Private Network) to get around the block. People can use VPN to get around the block. When I was in China, Google, Western media, Instagram, Facebook were blocked, but people there were using VPN. So you cannot truly shut down social media.

Yes, in a wartime or during emergency I would like that only truth and facts were posted, but this is not the case. Yes, I would like to see some control, but it cannot be fully controlled.