A blog revolution in Madagascar?

Political expression has grown up in Madagascar. After a coup deposed the government in March, previously dormant bloggers who once had little to talk about fired up their computers to comment on the instability. The BBC has the story:

Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter have become popular forums for debate, and video and picture sharing.

“The crisis has triggered something like social-media activism here in Madagascar,” says Tahina.

Lova Rakotomalala, who analyses Malagasy bloggers for Global Voices, a project promoting citizen media across the world, believes the political crisis has helped inspire political expression among young Malagasies.

He says he wants to see the Malagasy blogosphere evolve into an internet forum similar to Kenya’s Mzalendo.

Mzalendo, meaning “patriot” in Swahili, is a volunteer-run website whose self-declared mission is to “keep and eye on the Kenyan parliament”.

The emerging trend seems to be that social media can help legitimize public unrest in politically unstable countries. Recent protests in Iran and Moldova appear to prove the point. Does Madagascar’s experience with Web 2.0 confirm anything?

AFP/GETTY IMAGES