Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have become immensely powerful tools for connecting people with a common interest and surpassing the traditional hurdles of geographical location, time and other barriers. The Internet has created a “world village” sense of proximity by linking its inhabitants through cyber-space and creating a “’knowledge-based society’ [that’s becoming] the world’s culture and primary tool of communications” (Radwan, 2011, p 1). Social networks have provided a platform for niche communities to develop, allowing online sharing and communication around a particular topic or cause of passion. As a result, social media platforms promote an engaged politics as they allow for efficient organization and coordination of political events such as protests, rallies or even fundraising activities. So are Facebook and Twitter merely places where revolutionaries go? Or are they much more?
Scholars concur that online social networks have made regime change easier to organize and execute. Some even suggest there is an underlying assumption that new media is creating a landscape where it is more difficult to sustain an authoritarian regime and hence, could usher in a new wave of democratization around the world (Papic and Noonan, 2011). In a recent interview, President Barak Obama compared social networking to universal liberties such as freedom of speech (Radwan, 2011). Yet, Morozov argues “that these digital tools are simply, well, tools, and social change continues to involve many painstaking, longer-term efforts to engage with political institutions and reform movements” (2011).
One noteworthy example where social media played a central role in coordinating political activities is the recent Arab Spring. Radwan goes as far to say, “the Egyptian revolution has validated the powerful role of social media in the political arena” (2011, p 2). Before and during the revolution, citizens utilized social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to engage in political conversations, broadcast information criticizing authorities and to pressure their governments. Through utilizing digital technologies “democracy advocates created a freedom meme that took on a life of its own and spread ideas about liberty and revolution to a surprisingly large number of people” (Duffy, et.al, 2011, p 3). The conversations about liberty, democracy and revolt online were often immediately followed by the outburst of mass protests in the streets (Duffy, et.al 2011). Furthermore, social media platforms assisted the spread of democratic ideas across international borders, which assisted Western news stories about the events happening abroad (Duffy, et.al, 2011).
The ability for niche communities to develop and exercise political activities supports the notion that features of Web2.0 encourages political engagement among the populace. There is contrasting opinions regarding the extent to how much impact the internet did actually play in insitigating the Arab Spring.
Duffy, A, Freelon, D, Howard, P, Hussain, M, Mari, W & Mazid, M 2011, “Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring?” Project of Information Technology & Political Islam, working paper, pp 1-30
Morozov, E, 2011 ' Facebook and Twitter are just places revolutionaries go,' The Guardian, 7 March. [URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/07/facebook-twitter-revolutionaries-cyber-utopians]
Papic, M & Noonan, S 2011, “Social Media as a Tool for Protest,” Stratfor Global Intelligence, weblog, accessed 22.9.2011 http://ey9ff7jb6l.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Egypt%27s+Facebook+revolution&rft.jtitle=American+Diplomacy&rft.au=Radwan%2C+Abeer+Bassiouny&rft.date=2011-02-21&rft.pub=American+Diplomacy+Publishers&rft.issn=1094-8120&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=250580098
Radwan, A 2011, 'Egypt's Facebook Revolution', American Diplomacy, pp. 1-3, Political Science Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 September 2011.
Nice post... some solid referencing going on. I have had a look at the #mena and #arabspring hash tag groups on Twitter and it is pretty amazing some of the things posted. Social networks bring people together, Twitter allows this simply with the use of a hash tag so ofcourse people with similar political ideas are going to band together. Whilst it may not be the initial intended use of these social network platforms, it is a really useful bi-product for groups of people in society to get in contact with similar individuals. The internet is diverse, opinions and beliefs, with billions connected to these networks, it is bound have its own segmentation within it.
ReplyDeleteGood work Gabbb. When looking at both sides of this argument it is clear that each side has a genuine claim. Is the use of social media in the Arab spring overhyped? Or is it a revolutionary tool that has driven political change?... I tend to agree with the second position as although I recognise that social media is not being accessed by the entire population; those who do have access are experiencing an unprecedented freedom to engage in politics which will continue to have massive positive implications upon democracy.
ReplyDeletePrevious to this lecture I knew little about the Arab Spring and the involvement of social networking. I found the lecture fascinating and did not realize the impact that web 2.0 has had on political movements. I have done some further research on this topic although I did not question the involvement of social networking until I read your blog. You have made some very interesting points but I do not know enough to question the involvement of social networking on the Arab Spring. I am no interested to go and find out the extent of which web 2.0 has impacted upon instigating the Arab Spring.
ReplyDeleteI also shared the same experience as sophie- was unknown of the influence social media played in the arab political movements. A great article which highlights the significant role social media played is
ReplyDeletehttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/12947477/reports/pITPI_datamemo_2011.pdf
This is a great article to use for future reference.