Editor’s Note: Photos from teenage photographer Stephen Moreland.  Check Stephen’s work out on Flickr or read his blog on photography!

CEOs, you’ve been occupied! The thing that started off as Occupy Wall Street has spread around the entire country, but in a way we’ve never seen before. The anti-war movement in the 1960s and 70s might be comparable to these ‘Occupy Movements’ but the means of reaching people is very different, and fascinating. On the internet, Occupy Wall Street is more commonly referred to as #OccupyWallStreet, Occupy Boston as #OccupyBoston, and so on. I know, I added a hashtag, big deal right? It is a big deal.

I was watching Beat The Press last night, a Greater Boston segment on PBS in Boston that airs on Fridays. They were reporting that some of the protesters didn’t want the media coverage from the network affiliates (that’s the big-money local news stations, like NBC). Talking to my TV (as usual) I proclaimed that they were a bunch of idiots. Who wouldn’t want news coverage? I want news coverage! But then it hit me like a cow falling from the sky! They are making their own news coverage through social media! They’re an internet phenomenon, possibly even a meme in certain respects.

It’s a big deal. The fact of the matter is, Occupy Wall Street hardly exists, the most interest and coverage stems from #OccupyWallStreet. Get it? The TV news coverage doesn’t matter! The CEOs they’re trying to speak to are walking past the protests and the volunteers they’re trying to find are showing up from social media. If you’re watching the movements on the news, it’s probably because you turned the TV on after you checked your Facebook and Twitter. Am I wrong?

I want to remain completely neutral in this post. I support some things the movement talks about, I don’t support other things. What I know for sure is this is a movement like no other. I was in Boston the other day while the protesters were marching past the TD Garden and took this picture. It’s immense. Really immense. And These people are mostly showing up from social media.

I don’t dare draw any conclusions about any aspects of the occupy movement and only mean for this post to be a light commentary. It’s crazy. It’s the first movement (at least so close to home) that has utilized social media so well. I wouldn’t know how to draw conclusions and neither should you. Let’s watch from the sidelines and see what happens, or if it suits your fancy get involved. If you’re a social magician working with the demonstrations please tweet me @BenPaster or email me (ben@strikeinternet.com). I’d love to hear about what will most definitely make social media history. Whether you love or hate the protesters and what they stand for, take a moment to search twitter for #Occupy[Your_City_Name]. You’ll be surprised by the number of tweets per minute. This is a big deal.

What do you think? Do you like what the movements stand for? Do you think they’re using social media well?