Social media has been becoming increasingly important for social movement formation over the last decade as it serves as a platform for civilians to voice their opinions. Although it is increasing in importance, it is not a sole driving factor for the social mobilization of the Arab revolts of 2011. Yes, blogs, facebook, twitter, and the like are helpful in assisting organization, advocation, and informing citizens when there is not open/free media otherwise. However, as Axford discusses, social media was not protected against the government, so it wasn’t always free and open either. Because governments have control over their internet servers they had the ability to track posters and even shut the internet down if they wanted to. Axford states that in Tunisia, anti-regime bloggers were imprisoned and tortured. Facebook, which is commonly thought of as a platform that is used by those trying to mobilize social movement, was not free either. The government would frequently attempt to make fake pages to identify others who were anti the regime. The response of the Tunisian government is not unusual, and takes the power of social media away from the people.
I think that the Arab revolts of 2011 may have been more difficult to mobilize without social media, although I do not think that they would have been impossible. Facebook and Twitter make it easier for citizens to get information out to others, and to organize protests and such, and to share stories from those protests. In terms of the initial mobilization and then keeping that momentum going, social media was a relatively necessary factor in the Arab revolts of 2011, although after that, I think that Facebook and Twitter just became places where the government could capture revoltes.
It was really interesting to see how you brought up the fact that anti-regime bloggers were imprisoned and tortured in Tunisia, however, I still think its important to credit that fact that organizers used relied heavily on social media to progress the revolution in both Egypt and Tunisia specifically. Also, I think you must take into consideration the time period, and how social media is so essential to our lives in sharing news and starting revolution in this aspect.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think that social media made the revolts easier, but was not the main factor. I thought it was interesting that you brought up the government's role in social media too, and their opposing rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that without social media these revolts would have been much more difficult to organize and would likely take much longer, but that this does not mean they would have been impossible. Looking at history, revolutions and protests have existed much longer than social media.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% that the use of social media did make the revolts easier when it came to organization and the support that they got. Though it might have no been impossible the movement would have not gotten the momentum as quick. Countries like Tunisia for example truly used social media as an outlet to create the group for their social movements. In the generation we live today it would be stupid to not take advantage of social media since that is how a lot if not how everyone communicates.
ReplyDeleteYour point stating that "Although it is increasing in importance, it is not a sole driving factor for the social mobilization of the Arab revolts of 2011" is important to note as social media, while increasingly effective, is not the only factor behind social movements. Successful social movements, most notably the Civil Rights Movement, existed and were successful long before the advent of social media. While it is becoming an essential tool for coordinating these movements, the prevalence of "traditional" media such as television and radio are integral to uniting people under a common cause.
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