Like many have probably said, social media become a major/important tool when it comes to forming and spreading the messages of social movements over the past few years. Social media for people has become a platform to communicate and express their emotions frustrations of what has been going on in their country, and a lot of times have evidence to back their frustration up. Social media is in many scenerios in MENA states the only way they can excercise their free speech. Social media outlets are just a platform that accompanies the social movements, it is just a tool not the sole "game changer" that role lies in the people and the way they set up such social mobilizations. In the Arab revolts of 2011 Axford brought up the point in his "Talk about a Revolution: Social Media and the MENA Uprisings" that social media was in some cases that social media was not as "free" as people not living in the world of MENA might think. It is important to note that in most cases the government has full control in what citizens are allowed and prohibited since they have control of the state's internent serves. If they see something that they don't like, they can easily remove it or block that outlet completely. Hence though this idea of "free speech" has limitations that the people have to work around to get their movements out to their targetted arudience. For example, in Tunisia bloggers among others who used their platform to promote social mocements were imprisonsed among other sorts of punishment.
I believe that the Arab revolts of 2011 would most likely not have been as successful as it was without the use of social media. I believe that a lot of people living in Western countries would have not understood the severity of what the people of the states in MENA are going through without the videos among other things posted on social media.
I absolutely agree that without social media, the West is not able to conceptualize the strife and struggles that those living within conflict zones endure on a daily basis. As we saw in Aleppo, the lives of dozens of citizens were placed on a global stage when they uploaded videos saying goodbye to the world. Social media is necessary in grasping the full brevity of a situation and offers the possibility of increased aid and attention to an area uncovered by social media connections.
ReplyDeleteI really like the persecptive you took when answering this question. I agree, that the West rely heavily on social media and cannot see life without it. However, i think that social media is somewhat the connecting link.
ReplyDeleteI like that you note how social media isn't always as free as we may perceive it to be since the government can control it. I think that people frequently forget that the government can control the internet as well as mass media outlets.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a really good argument because you acknowledge that social media is not the sole factor in the success of these movements. Also, you're right about how the government even tries to limit social media. Apparently, the government in Egypt created fake facebook log in pages to steal peoples' passwords. However, I read that in Egypt the government was unable to block facebook because its use was so widespread. This is telling of the unity of the people.
ReplyDeleteI like your argument, social media is definitely not the only factor that contributes to the success however it still plays a large. In Egypt it was especially useful to reach the masses and rally support for the revolution.
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