In the late twentieth century, after a wave of ‘velvet revolutions’, historians, political scientists, and sociologists launched discussions on a new type of revolution, or postmodern revolution, characterized by radical changes through negotiations between protesters and authorities. Nonviolent resistance and total people’s mobilization became a defining feature of such revolutions. Further mediatization of society and role of social media, activated at the beginning of the twenty-first century, added the media factor to essential characteristics of the new revolution type. It was mediatization of social reality and emergence of so-called network society that led to the unprecedented influence of social media on development of protest movements for civil rights and freedoms. This was especially typical for post-Soviet countries with not strong democracies and corrupted hybrid regimes, such as Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, as well as for Middle East and North Africa: Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon.

2021 08 31, 16:20