Ukraine protests go viral on social media

For every Ukrainian protester smashing in a window, throwing a Molotov cocktail or being hit by riot police, there will be several people standing nearby with their smartphones aloft livestreaming the event.

Web channels have sprung up - some with presenters in improvised studios commenting in real time on the live feeds from protests in Kiev and beyond - and clips of some of the most shocking clashes have gone viral on social media.

Social media have given international resonance to the events in Ukraine but also had a much more practical effect of helping to spread news from Kiev to other parts of the country, where copycat protests have broken out in recent days.