The New social Media and the Arab Spring”

2 Dr. Natana J. DeLong-Bas writes in his article “The New social Media and the Arab Spring” (Oxford Islamic Studies Online) that social media played a pivotal role in the Arab Spring. Modern digital technology brought about political change without violence because 55-70 percent of the population in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt are under the age of thirty. Delong-Bas are more likely to turn to the Internet “finding it more reliable and accurate and less filled with government propaganda.”

The author continues by stating that the seeds of revolution were sown through the Internet and the loss of control of media by the local governments. What those governments could not foresee was that the youth used the Internet to exchange information and to “use cyberspace to ...assemble to discuss ideas, concerns, and complaints...” The Internet was new territory; websites became to “generate awareness campaigns”, “to proclaim their goals, and “to compile databases of like-minded individuals.”

The author also notes that other digital tools such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are open source areas where anyone can post their opinions whether for or against. Delong-Bas says that social media has been credited with triggering the revolutions. He states that it was “the speed at which communications were transmitted” accelerated the end result.

The author finishes by saying there are many lessons to be learned from the successful use of social media. The first is that there is no monopoly over how it is used or for what purpose. The strong voice of women that have not been heard in the past has challenged the stereotype of the Muslim woman. Women have also harnessed this medium to make others aware of social concerns. He concludes that social media has opened the door to new ways of creative thinking, including assembling, organizing and planning activities from political to social change.

Sara Reardon, “Was the Arab Spring really a Facebook Revolution?” writes about Kathleen Carley’s analysis of media articles. Using the latest software, Carley’s team examined 400,000 articles and determined that social media correlated with uprisings in some countries, but it was not universal. “Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube played a role in the way the Arab Spring unfolded, their influence was far less critical ... the reason was social influence, not social networking.”

Reardon correlates Carley’s conclusions with other authors. Philip Howard of the University of Washington in Seattle notes that “the protesters tended to be young, tech-savvy and included women.” He goes on to say that terrorists and the urban poor were not really involved.