The challenges posed by the new media landscape security, veracity, and accessibility will likely take years to fully comprehend. The role of social media in the arab uprisings pew research. Civil society leaders in arab countries emphasized the role of the internet, mobile phones, and social media in the protests. Influence of spread of the revolution arrays of egyptian and tunisian everyday worlds. Social media became a platform to share information internally as well. New study quantifies use of social media in arab spring. That was the first uprising organized just as much on facebook and twitter as it was on the streets of egypt. Social media made the arab spring, but couldnt save it. Combining the approaches of geospatial analysis and nlp allows us to examine in a broader sense different aspects of crowd behaviorarab spring, for example the role of social media in the arab. Protesters used social media to organize demonstrations both pro and antigovernmental, disseminate information about their activities, and raise local.
Role of social media in shifting a peaceful arab spring into terrorism by steve johnston introduction this article will examine the islamic states use of social media to gain support from within the syrian public during the 2011 arab spring. Apr 23, 2018 social media alone did not create the social movements observed in the arab spring, but access to interactive media affected the movements narrative and framing, which dictated success or failure of the various civil efforts to force political concessions. Thi s researc h articl e attempts to scrutinize the nature and cause s of the ara b uprising s which too k people by surpris e globall y throughou t 2011 and int o 2012. Facebook, twitter, youtube, and other forms of social media have played a major role in the planning, acceleration, and even the preparation of some of the uprisings and revolutions that too place in the middle east at this time. Social media in the arab world before the recent revolutions had been described as marginal, alternative and elitist, and their impact minimal because of the low penetration rates of the internet. Jan 29, 2018 six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. Arab emirates, bahrain, qatar, lebanon and kuwait had some of the highest levels of social media penetration, and yet experienced only small levels of unrest during the arab spring time period. In saying that its role cannot be disregarded, this paper does not argue that social media caused the arab spring but was an essential tool. Pdf the role of social media in arab spring sema emiroglu. Social media and the arab spring sage publications. There has been much analysis of the causes and rapid spread of the 2011 arab spring or arab uprisings. Social media have served as an outlet for social movement to propagate ideas, mobilize members for collective action and coordinate activism.
The public revolt in syria followed other such revolutions in tunisia, egypt, and libya. But in may 2006 some very different images of life in south americas largest country were splashed across living rooms nationwide. Pdf the role of social media in the arab uprisings past. This article will highlight the shift from traditional activism to digital activism. A conceptual framework for understanding the social media and the arab spring. Critical thought and the future of islam the middle east and muslim southeast asia. They are drmfree, and shipped in multiple formats, including pdf. The scientific landscape is also divided over the importance of social media during the arab spring. This paper aims to demonstrate why the role of social media in the arab spring cannot be disregarded. How social media will start revolutions in 2026 inverse. Apr 17, 2015 social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the arab spring. The impact of social media on social unrest in the arab spring. Pdf the role of social media in the syrian uprising. Social media and the arab spring rutgers university.
It argues that although the new media is one of the factors in the social revolution among others such as social and political factors in the region, it nevertheless played a critical role especially in light of the absence of an open media and a civil society. Social media helped the arab spring gain momentum quickly and in some cases, led to the ousting of long time political dictatorships. This paper will discuss the causes of the arab spring and how social media played a role in the middle east before the start of the revolutions in 2011. An update on the project in 2016how it felt to live in the arab world five years after the arab spring. The number of facebook users in the arab nations has almost doubled since.
Howard, university of washington aiden duffy, university of washington deen freelon, american university muzammil hussain, university of washington will mari, university of washington marwa mazaid, university of washington working paper 2011. What the arab spring tells us about the future of social media in revolutionary movements. There are four broad explanations for why social media has been such an effective tool for protests. This article will highlight the shift from traditional activism to digital activism by using the egyptian revolution as a specific. Lentissocial media and the arab spring wikibooks, open. The role of social media in the 2011 egyptian revolution. The goal of this article is to place the role that social media plays in collective action within a more general theoretical structure, using the events of the arab spring as a case study.
This report investigates the impact of social media upon social unrest during the arab spring and is designed to test the common hypothesis that facebook, twitter and other social media outlets had a significant impact on the outbreak of protests in the mena region. Social media alone did not create the social movements observed in the arab spring, but access to interactive media affected the movements narrative and framing, which dictated success or failure of the various civil efforts to force political concessions. According to the data from arab social media report 2011 by mourtada and salem, the number of social media usage increased immensely during the arab spring period from january 1 to march 30. Ultimately, public information supplied by social networking websites has played an important role during modernday activism, specifically as it pertains to the arab spring. While the arab spring may point to a phenomenon of new mass forms of sociopolitical protest facilitated by social media networks, particularly in regard to their organizational and. The new social media and the arab spring oxford centre for. The arab spring carried the promise that social media and the internet were going to unleash a new wave of positive social change. Jul 03, 2012 ultimately, public information supplied by social networking websites has played an important role during modernday activism, specifically as it pertains to the arab spring.
A spike in online revolutionary conversations often preceded major events on the ground. The role social of media and modern technology in arab spring. International focus on the arab world has increased during the arab spring, and recognition of individual womens involvement in the conflicts and demonstrations has risen khamis, 2011. Therefore, this paper shall discuss the impact of social media during the arab spring, and try to ascertain the extent to which it facilitated the growth of the movement. The new tools of social media have reinvented social activism. The roots and causes of the 2011 arab uprisings kamal eldin osman salih abstract. But the past five years have shown that liberty isnt the only. Social media indeed played a part in the arab uprisings. General consensus emerges on a combination of political, economic and social factors as being critical. Jun 01, 2016 malcolm gladwells 2010 article in the new yorker why the revolution will not be tweeted raised debate, especially after the 2011 arab spring revolution and the part social media took in overthrowing a decade of hosni mubaraks dictatorship in egypt. The series of arab uprisings collectively known as the arab spring is a flashpoint in history perhaps the biggest we.
The arab spring is a revolutionary movement in north africa and the middle east, which began in december 2010 with the tunisian revolution before spreading to other arab countries, such as. Instead, that spring has given way to a winter of economic stagnation and political violence that has plunged syria, libya and yemen into bloody civil war, has led to widespread unrest in egypt, iraq and bahrain, and threatens to destabilize arab governments from morocco to saudi arabia. With facebook and twitter and the like, the traditional relationship between. Implications of the arab spring the jefferson quran maher zain, technology, and southeast asias place in modern islam islam and science the new social media and the arab spring saudi arabia. The arab spring spawned a series of revolutionary movements that are unique in that they utilized social media as an effective means to. Social media, arab spring and its implications for pakistan 401 there is an important distinction betw een pakistan and the countries in the middle east and north africa that have expe rienced.
Digital media and the arab spring oxford scholarship. It was a spring forward for many countries in the middle east such as tunisia, egypt, libya, and seventeen others, who fought against their oppressive government regimes to put the power back in the hands of the people. Since the first wave of arab spring revolution swept across parts of the middle east and northern africa more than a year ago, it has been increasingly debated whether or how much social media tools played an instrumental role in that. While some scholars extrapolate the role of the new media for antiauthoritarian movements 2. The goal of this article is to build a conceptual framework for understanding the role of social media in the socalled arab spring, considering two different disciplinary perspectives. Social media and fundamental change chandos publishing social media. Distant witness social media, the arab spring and a journalism revolution by andy carvin buy it now through or books our ebooks can be read on any popular reading device, including ipad, kindle, nook and sony reader. Social media fueled a revolution during the arab spring protests that started in 2010. Explaining the role and impact of social media in the. Social media and the arab spring 1455 words bartleby. Nov 28, 2012 social media indeed played a part in the arab uprisings.
The aim of this chapter is to examine the use of the social media by the bahraini antigovernment movement since the outbreak of the arab spring in bahrain in 2011 till the present day. Acknowledgement of the role of social media during the arab spring. Social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the arab spring. By early 2011 they had spread into what became known as the arab spring a wave of protests, uprisings, and unrest that spread across arabicspeaking countries in. Politics comes first gadi wolfsfeld 1, elad segev2, and tamir sheafer3 abstract the goal of this article is to place the role that social media plays in collective action within a more general theoretical structure, using the events of the arab spring as a case study. Aljazeera and alarabia were the important television.
Discuss the impact of social media during the arab spring 1. Opening closed regimes what was the role of social media during the arab spring. Mar 29, 2019 by early 2011 they had spread into what became known as the arab springa wave of protests, uprisings, and unrest that spread across arabicspeaking countries in north africa and the middle east. According to the 2011 arab social media report, 94% of tunisians get their news from social media tools, as do 88% of. After analyzing more than 3 million tweets, gigabytes of youtube content and thousands of blog posts, a new study finds that social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the arab spring. Role of social media in shifting a peaceful arab spring into terrorism, by major hasan harkous, 7 pages. The world, we are told, is in the midst of a revolution. Those on the front lines of demonstrations in one part of the country looked to present their distinct local message and identity and to learn about what was happening in other regions of syria. This article examines the role of the new media in the arab spring in the middle east and north africa mena region. Social media was not the spark that lit the arab spring, as some contend. Challenges for the 21st century sufism in the modern world. Social media and fundamental change chandos publishing social media jamali, reza on. Social media was effective in awakening the arab people and giving them the power to fight against repressive regimes in their drive for greater freedom and independence. The role of social media in the arab spring the role of social media in the arab spring.
What the arab spring tells us about the future of social. Six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. The present descriptive study examines the islamic states is use of social media to launch its message and expand its propaganda to the world. The impact of these technologies was felt globally, affecting both developed and developing nations, if not in the same way. Social media played a significant role facilitating communication and interaction among participants of political protests. The arab spring showed the potential of young people in the middle east armed with technology. Networks formed online were crucial in organizing a core group of activists, specifically in egypt. Yet, simultaneously, both traditional and social media cite the absence of gendered revolution or genderbased social change. Feb 10, 2019 s ince 2012, ive produced an annual study tracking trends in social media in the middle east. Explaining the role and impact of social media in the arab spring. A year of revolution a year ago, a tunisian fruitseller set himself on fire after being humiliated by a police officer. In the wake of the arab spring, much attention has been focused on. This week saw the publication of the seventh of these reports as in previous years, findings used.
The role of information communication technologies in the. The role played by the arab mass media in the arab spring is recognized by a lot of analysts. One of the hallmarks of the arab spring uprisings has been the role of social media in articulating demands of the popular protesters and broadcasting dramatic events as they unfolded, but it is less clear whether social media acted as a catalyst for many of the movements in the region. The event set off uprisings across north africa and the. Social media and the arab spring small wars journal. But as the contours of the role of social media in the arab spring and elsewhere begin to take shape in the academic and policymaking arenas, everyone seems to. Description in late of 2010 and during 2011, the arab countries saw a series of large scale political uprisings. The role of social media in political mobilisation. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter. Social media helped spread democratic ideas across international borders.
The role of social media in the arab spring pangaea journal. When the average american thinks about brazil one of two images comes to mind, carnival or soccer. What claim does this passage make about social media and the arab spring. Pdf social media, arab spring and its implications for.
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