Does Social Media have the power to change or contribute to the political communication, mobilisation, and organisation of social movements?
Facebook and Twitter have been used as a tool for political expression and have been the main factors in various social movements around the world.
Hundreds of examples can be used to articulate the importance Facebook and Twitter have played in the development of social movements, the one that interests me the most, however, is the Arab Spring Movement. Just to run a brief historical background of what’s been happening in the world at that time and what lead to the Arab Spring, I would like to highlight the main reasons behind the uprising:
- Arab regimes have gone through a large demographic population growth that unfortunately could not be matched with the political and economic development in most Arab States.
- Inevitably, low living standards and the constant change of political power between the left and right wing led to unemployment.
- People grew tired of their governments as some of the Arab dictators have ruled for decades and were deemed corrupted.
The countries that were involved in the Arab Spring Uprisings were: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Morocco, and Jordan.
Protesters in Egypt. Source: Pinterest.
Beginning in December 2010, protests in Tunisia against the government were documented and shared through neighbouring countries to mobilise them to participate in what we know today as the ‘Arab Spring’ (History Channel, 2018). What is fascinating about this protest is that it started through social media platforms. Individuals from Arab countries used Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube as tools to mobilise and coordinate the movement by raising worldwide awareness and promoting a collective identity. The Arab Spring demonstrated to the world how social media can undoubtedly become a powerful weapon for the salvation of the people. Within a month, the Tunisian “dictator” of 23 years, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia, and Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s President was forced to retire on February 11, 2011, following 18 days of protests.
People found refuge on social media to express their negative emotions and to gather thousands of people in a call for a massive protest. The Arab Spring began in Tunisia, but the decisive moment that changed the region forever was the initiation of various Facebook posts and tweets that urged people to “get to the streets”.vThe role of Social Media in the Arab Spring has thrown attention to the role of “citizen journalism”. We can see a clear example of the progression and development of a social movement through social media as traditional forms of media were manipulating the information that was delivered to the public. However, citizens who had access to the internet expressed their dissent through chat forums and promoted, cultivated, and organised the protests through networking sites and platforms. Many documented and verified the events through video blogging winning the support of people from different parts of the world.
This is but a single example of an emergent through line and trend. Showing integration of social media into a civil protest, along with aiding the proliferation and democratisation of information as a tool for societal action.
Protesters in Egypt. Source: Pinterest.
