Social media played an incredibly important role in the Arab Revolts of 2011 because it gave people a platform to share stories, post videos, plan events, and spread news with millions of people at a time and for free. It essentially gave a voice to the voiceless, because along with the invention of smartphones, social media allowed people to film acts of violence and post them on their accounts, or create groups on Facebook in which they could invite thousands to participate in demonstrations. It opened up an array of horizons and allowed people from different communities and even different countries to communicate with one another and spread ideas.
Social media wasn’t necessary for the demonstrations to happen, given the fact that revolution had been occurring for centuries before this invention, however, it did render rebellion easier and more accessible to the general public. Without Facebook and Twitter as tools, these revolts perhaps would have taken a few more years or even decades to occur. The anger and frustration with the government was always present, but it was social media that allowed people to publicly voice their opinions and convince other to join in on the demonstrations. It put pressure on autocratic governments because it was suddenly much harder to hide human right abuses, and it also allowed for political activists, civil society and NGOs around to world to get a glimpse of life in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia and help foster movements that would seek to overthrow tyrannical leaders.
I like that you acknowledge that it gave a platform for citizens to voice their opinions and expose human rights abuses of their government.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that social media accelerates the social movement process. I think without social media it would have been almost impossible to outser Mubarak or even Morsi.
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