Frankly, I find the criticisms that deem social media an ‘organising tool at best’ rather ironic. When it comes to mobilising the masses for a large-scale protest, what one function would serve you better than the capacity to organise millions of people quickly and cheaply? No one can deny that the socio-political landscape in many countries across the Arab Spring was ripe for revolution, but every uprising needs a catalyst. In Tunisia and Egypt, the catalysts for the uprisings were localised events that spread like wildfire through the social media networks of the region, subsequently drawing attention from neighbouring countries and the rest of the world. Media convergence, particularly the ability to upload videos and pictures from a mobile phone has been sited as “vital tool” used by citizens during the Arab Spring.
Journalist Deborah Amos says that in the Arab social media gave people a collective conscience, a group mentality that helped them feel responsible and prompted them to share information. Technology enabled what she calls “social imagination”, and the desire to spread activism with other citizens using the tools of social media.
What was the role of technology in the Arab uprisings?
While these demonstrations are happening on a smaller scale, it is pertinent to also analyse social media’s role in the current ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement, which has relied on Twitter and Facebook to spread its message. Ben Rattray, founder of Change.org, says that social change is about how people use the tools available to them, and that social media should be “supporting, not supplanting, existing strategies”. People in different cities were able to share the progress of their separate movements in real-time,
Hey Jess, nice perspective on the role of social media in these revolutions. I think you have done an excellent job of showing how powerful they are as tools. On one level, I agree with you and doubt that these revolutions could have reached such a scale so quickly without these tools; on another I think we of the digital age sometimes forget the power of networking among people, and how fast news can spread without phones and the internet.
ReplyDeleteIn one of my classes, we were talking to our tutor about when she grew up without mobile phones. She said she was surprised at how many people our age couldn't fathom how she and her friends managed to meet up without these devices. The truth is, although phones may facilitate easier and quicker communication, people will always find a way to reach each other. Although social media did help these revolutions spread like wildfire, I'm hesitant to say that they wouldn't have spread this way without them.
I agree Nomi, I think that although social networking has helped to bring like minded people together it cannot be said that we were unable to organise ourselves before this time. I think it is really hard for us to fathom a time without our electronic devices but those who grew up without them cannot fathom how we are so reliant on them.
ReplyDeleteNice post Jess. Nomi, I agree with you. I don't believe that it was the technological tools that started the revolutions, however, they played an undeniably huge role in the ignition and spread of the protests. Although revolutions probably would have occurred despite technology, there is no way that protests could have been organised to the magnitude that they were in Egypt and Tunisia without these tools. In saying this, I think calling your daughter 'Facebook' out of respect of social networking is a little too far...
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