1 / 8

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions. Gabe Steinmeyer. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions 1998-2008. “Facebook” - Term used to refer to all things social on the Internet. Since most regimes controlled other forms of media, the Internet became the only viable option for organization.

iolana
Télécharger la présentation

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Gabe Steinmeyer

  2. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions 1998-2008 • “Facebook” - Term used to refer to all things social on the Internet. • Since most regimes controlled other forms of media, the Internet became the only viable option for organization. • 1998-2001: Anti-regime groups in Tunisia started using the Internet • Takriz (Cyber Think-Tank, 1998) • SuXydelik(First Arab-African social network, 2000) • TuneZine (Political Webzine and forum, 2001) • 2008: fewer than 30,000 Tunisians had Facebook • Tunisia ranked below Iran and China in terms of Internet Freedom “Online we could be anonymous” ~ Foetus (Takriz’s CTO)

  3. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions The Emergence of Facebook • Early Egyptian organizers relied on leaflets, blogs, and Internet forums. • First Egyptian anti-regime Facebook group gained 3,000 new fans a day • Key Turning Points: • Egypt: June 6th 2010 • Khaled Said • Tunisia: December 17th 2010 • Mohamed Bouazizi • Usage of Facebook and Youtube skyrocketed. • By end of 2009 more than 800,000 Tunisians used Facebook. • By 2011 1.97 Million users in Tunisia “We didn’t think about Facebook in the beginning because [to us] it was very new,” ~ Ahmed Maher (Leader of “April 6th Movement”)

  4. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Facebook Meets the Streets • Protestors used Facebook, Mumble, Twitter, Youtube, and Foursquare to: • Meet • Organize protests • Upload picture and videos • Inform about future demonstrations • Facebook became “the GPS for this • revolution” • “Without the street there’s no revolution” • “Add Facebook to the street and you get real potential” “We were online every day, and on the streets pretty much every day, collecting information, collecting videos, organizing protests, getting into protests.” ~ Foetus

  5. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions What was the Role of Facebook • Two roles could have been played: • Main Instigator of Revolution • Tool of Reform • Facts: • Facebook is where people saw and shared horrifying videos and photographs of state brutality that inspired them to rebel. • Social Media enabled people to find the basic logistics of the protests. Where to go? When to show up?

  6. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Role of Facebook • “Facebook is what guided the protests, but the true vehicle for change was the protests themselves.” ~ Foetus • “Before this social-media revolution, everyone was very individual, very single, very isolated and oppressed in islands. But social media has created bridges to speak out, to know that there are other men who think like me. We can work together, we can make something together.” ~ Hassan Mostafa (Egyptian Activist)

  7. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Discussion • How significant a role did Social Media play in the Arab Revolutions? • How does the diffusion of Technology assist Revolution? • How does Poverty impede Revolution?

  8. Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Sources • http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/09/so-was-facebook-responsible-for-the-arab-spring-after-all/244314/ • http://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/designprocess/files/2012/08/TheNational_FacebookandTwitterKeytoArabSpringUprising.pdf • http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/425137/streetbook/ • http://dayan.org/sites/default/files/SILSBEE_BEN_SOCIAL_MEDIA_TANOTES_260812.pdf • http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14747731.2011.621287 • http://facultyfiles.deanza.edu/gems/kaufmancynthia/Saletan.pdf

More Related