Economic protest gains steam in Hub

In Boston, the protests on Friday swelled to about 1,000 in Dewey Square. Police arrested 24 people on trespassing charges when they refused to leave the Bank of America building nearby.

But the demonstration, largely fueled by social media, has generally been a peaceful attempt to call attention to what protesters call the “bottom 99 percent’’ of Americans, who are strapped by rising costs for education, housing, and health care.

“The common root that everybody here has is that they feel like something’s wrong with the system,’’ said Tim Hansen, 21, a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell who is facing thousands of dollars in college loans. “They feel they’ve been disenfranchised.’’

The demonstrators are a loosely organized group drawn together by e-mails, phone calls, and a personal fear that the country is heading in the wrong direction. They do not yet have demands, but they are holding daily general meetings, often broadcast on the Internet, to air concerns and discuss possible solutions.

Michael Flowers, a 24-year-old makeup artist and a spokesman for the Boston group, said efforts aim to appeal to a wide array of people, including conservatives worried about inaction in Washington. He said a well-off benefactor donated tents. In less than two days, they raised $1,200, he said.

“Wall Street started a spark, and it ignited a unified feeling of alienation from what it means to be an American,’’ Flowers said.

The protesters said they have no plans to leave anytime soon - a message that was echoed by demonstrators in New York, who said they plan to stay as long as they can.

Yesterday, the Boston campsite had become a high-tech micro-village filled with mostly young people running a sophisticated operation on a sodden expanse of grass in the shadow of the Financial District’s gleaming skyscrapers.