The Arab revolution didn’t only change the way the living of the Arab population and their acceptance of their living situations, it also forced people to view media differently. As Jean Pierre Filiu states in The Arab Revolution: Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising the Social networks that social networks were used as security control in Tunisia which eventually constituted the spark of the “January 25th” revolution in Egypt. Social networks were also used as social support and education amongst urban youth by the exposal of crimes and dishonesty of the ruling regime.[1] Specifically Egypt, the people’s revolt came from within. Yet, it’s unknown if it’s lasting or positive in any sense. Therefore one cannot assess the historical impact. Nevertheless, the social media seems to occupy everyone’s minds when thinking about the Arab revolution. The question is whether the readers reading Facebook and Twitter really were impacted primarily by these social media devices or whether it was just the accumulation of long term life styles.[2] The use of social networks expanded after the spark, it became a factor that contributed more control for the people in Egypt, as Telhami states: the expansion of the use of different social media made society realize the lack truth through the television media that is controlled by the government. Therefore the people expanded to regional and global television for accurate news. It took away the government’s ability to control the political narrative and the amount of manipulation became clear.[3] Hosni Mubarak felt the power of the social networks on the citizens of Egypt, he cut off Internet access to the people, followed by thugs armed with whip, clubs, and sabers to bear and intimidate protesters.[4] Kabi describes after the revolution: “Since the demise of the Mubarak government, Egypt has been exposed to increasing insecurity with friction mounting between the military interim leadership, the Muslim Brotherhood (as the most organised and seemingly popular political group) and the public. This has been materialised in violent clashes which have occurred since Mubarak stepped down.”[5] Nevertheless the world began to reflect upon the influences that caused the revolution. Some concerns were raised as mentioned by Haass, the media did play a very significant role, but, their role has been exaggerated. Many previous media contributed to many significant events, such as the radio to World War 1, the printing press to the feminist movement. They all posted challenges to the usual order of the day but through time, the government repressed these types of media or hired their owners. The social networks are bound to meet the same fate.[6] On the other hand, some believed it had no influence over the revolution at all as mentioned by Filiu. A militant website naawat.org published a detailed story to fault the myth of any “Twitter Revolution”. The outcomes that were based on convincing the comprehensive data were that social networks were neither the precipitation nor the organizational of the protest movement, and that the Wiki leaks reports about neither Tunisia nor Egypt did not affect the reality the public has long since been aware of the corruption of the regime.[7] Furthermore, when Internet connections were cut off, the public bravely fought back without the help of social networks, people continued to protest.[8] Others believed it was dangerous to emphasise the political roles to the likes of Facebook and Twitter for it corrupts the focus of the revolution itself and switches it to technology. [9] Filiu exceeds the argument by emphasising: “the key was and is organization. And it could be that the leaderless dynamic of the democratic uprising, at times overshadowed by the focus on the “Facebook kids”, is the real novelty of the Arab revolution.”[10] Finally, whether social networks were a large contribution or just part of many contributions, Telhami states that we are in a new world where the information of the evolution is not fully understood. It has changed the public, dependency on the government decreased and introduced instruments of mobilization without the use of political organizations such as other media.[11]
Bibliography
– Foreign Affairs, comp. The New Arab Revolt: What Happened, What It Means, and What Comes Next. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2011. Print.
– Filiu, Jean-Pierre. The Arab Revolution: Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising.London: C. Hurst &, 2011. Print.
– Libert, Barry. The Revolution Will Be Tweeted. New Word City, 2011. Print.
– Pappé, Ilan. The Modern Middle East. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.
– Pollack, Kenneth M. The Arab Awakening: America and the Transformation of the Middle East. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2011. Print.
– Lynch, Marc. Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today. New York: Columbia UP, 2006. Print.
– Ryan, Yasmine. “Arab Bloggers Meet in Post-revolution Tunisia.” Aljazeera 22 Oct. 2011. Print.
– Trevino, Linda Klebe, Jane Webster, and Eric W. Stein. “Making Connections: Complementary Influences on Communication Media Choices, Attitudes, and Use.”Organization Science 11.2 (2000): 163-82. Print
– Kabi, Pasquale. Globalization and Insecurity. Research Paper. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print.
– “2011 Revolution | Egypt.” Facebook. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.facebook.com/Thawret2011?sk=wall>.