An Exploratory Study of Risk and Social Media: What Role Did Social Media Play in the Arab Spring Revolutions?

From Digital Culture & Society

Article Title: An Exploratory Study of Risk and Social Media: What Role Did Social Media Play in the Arab Spring Revolutions? Find Article online: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=0e07e2a4-b3c5-42d2-8f88-ece44ad13e5c%40sdc-v-sessmgr04

Doi: 10.12816/0023480

Contents 1 Context 2 Overview 3 Strength and Weaknesses 4 Assessment

[edit] Context

This article describes the impact social media had and the importance of public sphere during the Arab spring which started in 2010. This article goes into detail on how social media was used and the risk people took. The ability to have internet, social media and mobile phones have been used to mobilize people and this has increased in the Arab world. It has also been a key tool to express your feelings and create a discourse. Arab citizens use the internet to actively engage in discussion to bring social change in their respective countries. Many countries such as Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Algeria have used social media to organize different protest and start a revolution.

[edit] Overview

In 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi self immolation set off a furry which changed the course of every Arab country. Unstable economic, social and political conditions in Arab states made them ripe for revolutionary activity. Social media had a major role in the Arab spring for two main reasons; The first was that it was a key tool for planning and second of all it played a major role in mobilizing people giving them a way to express their dissatisfaction with the government. As Garrett (2006) argues, social media and information technology can “accelerate and geographically extend the diffusion of social movement information and of protest…For example, news coverage of protest activity in one location can increase issue salience across a much broader region, potentially motivating future actions elsewhere” (p. 207). The local media in these countries disseminated information on the Arab spring. Most of the media in Arab countries are controlled by the government which is why platforms such as Facebook and Twitter were good tools to evade censorship. The Arab spring were brought to the world's attention through social media platforms. Citizen journalism which is a common thing now a day played a huge role in the public sphere. Many citizens took it upon themselves to video tape from their mobile phones live scenes and posted them on social media so that the whole world are aware of what's going on. There was a study conducted that had two major questions; 1) Did the use of social media lead individuals living in Arab Spring countries to participate in the protests that occurred? 2) Does the use of social media lead people to take risks they would not take otherwise? Participants were chosen from the Middle East Partnership Initiative. For the first question results demonstrate there were four ways people used social media prior to and during protest activities: 1) to organize protest activities; 2) to document what was happening; 3) to find and access information; and 4) to take action. To the second question, results indicate that respondents were motivated by social media’s call for action to take personal and social risks by participating in protests.(Davidson, P19). However Social media weren’t the main motivators for these risks. Most respondents claimed that they would be taking the same risks if it were for traditional media. The Arab spring were not a result of internet or social media but of poor economic and social conditions.

[edit] Strength and Weaknesses

Social media in the Arab spring was used to disseminate false information, provide evidence of the truth and organize people. It was a key tool for digital public sphere so people can take part in important discussions of what's going on during the Arab spring. Without social media and the public sphere false information would be spreading quickly to many thousands of people and the outcome of the earlier movements might have failed.

The weaknesses is that censorship is a major issue in the Arab world. Despite being able to express your views on social media platforms, people still fear the consequences of what they're saying. People are still getting used to digital public sphere in the Arab world at this day. The government still control a majority of the media and in some countries social media is even blocked. Public sphere also led to violence in some Arab countries. What was supposed to be peaceful protest led to violence because of some individuals who wanted to respond with violence.

[edit] Assessment