The fact that I am a communications major, I have had to
reflect on the “Arab Spring” many times. Each time I look into the Arab
uprisings I learn more and more. It is so fascinating to find out about how
social media has had such a huge impact on the Arab Spring. It’s hard to
believe that social media has so much power in our lives when 20 years ago, it
was non existent. Saying that social media is powerful is an understatement, as
it has shaped history in more than one instance. I would like to focus on the
Arab Spring and how social media was used to spread information.
There were
nearly 3 million tweets, thousands of Youtube videos and many blog posts that
all played an integral role in the political debates in the Arab Spring. It has
been proven that when conversations were sparked on social media, major events
soon followed. The public discourse that came from people commenting on social
media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube was incredible to read
about. I remember in 2011 I got the majority of my information of what was
happening in the Arab Spring from social media. I rarely had time to just sit
down and watch the news and getting information from social media platforms was
easy, quick and convenient. It is a immediate way for the average citizen to
make a huge impact and spread major news in a short period of time.
Stories of
protests were carried across international boarders through social media alone.
Freedom and democracy were two of the major topics that flew across the Middle
East and North Africa . Social media’s power
“helped raise expectations for the success of political uprising”. When
fighting a battle you don’t want to feel alone and with social media platforms,
no one ever felt like they were fighting by themselves. Platforms like Facebook
and Twitter united people. It was a middle ground where people from different
countries and different backgrounds could get together. I would call it a
virtual online community where people could interact of common interest because
they would never have the chance to meet face to face and talk about it in
public.
None of
this would be possible without social media or cell phones in general. Only 20
percent on Tunisia
has access to social media sites but many have cell phones where they sent text
messages, pictures, and voice messages. Not only is social media mind-blowing
but technology in general. We can communicate with people not only domestically
but on an international level which was the case with the Arab uprisings. An
article I was reading gave this perfect quote from an Egyptian Activist that
said: “If you want to liberate people, give them the Internet.” It is scary how
true that statement actually is. Now-a-days information is such a deadly
weapon. Though, it took a while for people to accept and really understand
this.
In 2010
analysts were very skeptical that social media would have a significant impact
on the Arab Spring because of the strictness of the authoritarianism in the
Arab regimes. Much to their surprise they realized that social media was acting
as an accelerating agent that helped protesters “hold online discussions and
organize and stage popular uprisings.” Social media had a huge impact on
political communication during Arab Spring which makes me think about what we
have discussed in class. I wrote one of my blog posts about social media in
politics and the benefits of having an online presence. Social media can reach
such a huge audience and I am not saying that it was solely ‘responsible’ for
the uprisings but it definitely helped speed up the entire process. Social
media platforms obviously can’t replace physical action that is needed for
successful revolutions but it sure helps.
An article
I read said that 9 out of 10 Egyptians and Tunisians used Facebook to organize
protests and spread awareness. That’s a huge number, which furthermore
reassures critics that social media was of a great deal importance in the Arab
Spring. I will never get tired of learning more and more reasons that social
media is so influential. It has the power to do some amazing things and change
peoples lives in a split second.
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