What is Gutenberry Revolution?
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See also:
A Gutenberry Revolution is a grass-roots political movement to promote political freedom with free and fair elections that is organized primarily by means of social media tools and text messaging using mobile devices such as smart phones. Even basic SMS messaging-capable cell phones can be used as "Gutenberries," however.
As of mid-2009, an emerging pattern is the use of mobile devices by Gutenberry activists and reformers to 1.)
PUBLICIZE their causes internationally (using mobile interfaces to sites like Twitter and Facebook) and 2.)
ORGANIZE and coordinate with other activists within their own country into demonstrations, flashmobs, etc.
This is often quickly followed by blocking or shutting down of social networking services and/or cellular
communications by the ruling governments in the countries in which Gutenberry Revolutions are taking place.
The term was inspired in part by a statement made by U.S. State Department official Alec Ross at the
Personal Democracy Forum in New York in June 2009, to the effect that every person with a text-capable
mobile device possessed both means a producing content (like Gutenberg's printing press) ...and distributing it.
Social media analyst and Government 2.0 advocate Michael Russell then coined and used the term "Gutenberry" in a blog post in July, 2009.
Gutenberry is a portmanteau or word mashup combining Gutenberg and Blackberry.
Johannes Gutenberg (1398 – 1468) is credited with inventing the printing press, and with introducing it
(and movable type) to medieval Europe. This made the mass-printing of books and literature possible, and led to all of the modern advances in communications that followed.
Blackberry devices (produced by Research In Motion, Inc.) combine traditional wireless/cell phone voice communications with advanced messaging, web browsing and productivity functions previously found only in
personal computers.
"The popular uprising organized in the aftermath of the 2009 Iranian elections is an example of a Gutenberry Revolution in action."
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