The invasion of Ukraine is not the first conflict taking place on social media.
The Arab Spring riots and the Syrian civil war used Facebook and Twitter to organize protests and broadcast DIY footage.
But in the years since, social platforms have become more multimedia oriented and smartphones have become better at capturing and broadcasting events in real time.
The war has become a content, flowing on each platform at the same time, as was clear from our previous analysis.
Within this general scenario emerges the online protest hashtag, # нетвойне (# nowar / # nessdunaguerra].
Hashtag that has also been used in 91 other countries besides Ukraine and Russia.
These war videos speak to social media users in their own language as well, and the most popular of them can serve as a powerful form of promotion and support for the Ukrainian cause.
In Russia, according to Statista data updated at the end of 2021, with the exception of VKontakte, the Russian social platform, the most popular social networks are YouTube and Instagram, with a penetration of 68 and 59 percent respectively.
TikTok is also used by 35 of the Russians.
So ANSA and DataMediaHub analyzed the spread of the hashtag on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok from the day before the Russian attack, from 23 February last, to yesterday 7 March.
On Instagram, the posts with the hashtag # нетвойне are relatively few, almost 6 thousand, but they generate well over 15 million interactions, testifying to the high level of interest and involvement.
The Instagram account of an internet famous cat named Stepan, whose owner lives in Ukraine, has amassed a million followers, and recently went from sharing silly pet portraits to posting photos of a missile attack on Kharkiv .
On YouTube, there are more than 21,000 videos with the hashtag # нетвойне.
Among these is that of Russian artists, bloggers, politicians, journalists and writers such as Alexei Navalny, Ivan Dorn, Yuri Dud, Valery Meladze, Maxim Galkin, Alisher Morgenstern, Sergei Lazarev, Sergei Smirnov and Boris Akunin who talked about the war with Ukraine and opposed Putin's army.
Video that reaches 2.8 million views, and gets over 114 thousand likes and more than 21 thousand comments.
On TikTok overall, videos with the hashtag нетвойне even exceed two billion views.
Among the many, Alex Medved's one has 16.1 million views, 2.3 million likes and just under 50,000 comments.
Such hard evidence of the invasion suddenly pierces the internet's lack of place, reminding viewers that they are watching a real person in real danger.
Social media is an imperfect wartime chronicler.
In some cases, it may even be the most reliable source we have, given the withdrawal of many journalists after Russia passed the gag law.
invasion suddenly pierces the internet's lack of place, reminding viewers that they are watching a real person in real danger.
Social media is an imperfect wartime chronicler.
In some cases, it may even be the most reliable source we have, given the withdrawal of many journalists after Russia passed the gag law.
invasion suddenly pierces the internet's lack of place, reminding viewers that they are watching a real person in real danger.
Social media is an imperfect wartime chronicler.
In some cases, it may even be the most reliable source we have, given the withdrawal of many journalists after Russia passed the gag law.
