ENC 1102
Prof. Jeffrey Hornburg
Summer 2013
Global Revolution through Social Media
Introduction It has been over five hundred years since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and society has found hundreds of new ways to communicate globally, especially safe and quick. This is how societies have been growing and evolving and the media have been forced to customizable. Today people need to be communicated with the world around them. No matter if china is on the other side of the world, people want to know what is happening at this very moment, here and around the world. With the evolution of technology it has facilitated the creation of media faster, easier, comprehensive and portable. Social networks make it easier for the activists to express, and make an impact. Facebook has managed to gather more than 500 million users in less than 10 years, Twitter and YouTube with 309 millions of users mostly young. Its main purpose is to stay in touch with friends, even those that haven’t been seen for years, but what happens when social networks become a powerful weapon dissemination of information and coordination between people? Today the answer lies in Tunis, Egypt and possibly Libya. With small but rich blog that people want to show the social network, Facebook, Tweeter and YouTube are one of the main reasons for success of armed uprising in North Africa and the Middle East.
In fact, social network have come to constitute mechanisms that generate public opinion. Today people have the ability to express what they think with the difference that now, through social network, messages are transmitted almost immediately and an undetermined numbers of people. In other words, social network have made massive public expression. One clearly examples is the “Egyptian revolution” in 2011 to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak, was held in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, and other Egyptian cities, but online activism certainly played a crucial role in the protests. The activist used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube expressed their stories, according with Khaled who said “was just an ordinary person,” also Gamal Eid explained, “That he was just a guy who found evidence of corruption and published it. Then when people learned what happened to him when people saw pictures of his face, people got very angry”. After these people helped organize a protest to the uprising that began on January 25, 2011, according to The New York Times.
Another importance of social networks in the social upheavals, according to the International Security Assistance Center for Media (CIMA) social networks have played a very important role in the social upheavals that have arisen recently in North Africa. While these tools are not “essential” to the development and organization of social movements, they have emerged as a support for the protesters and information channels. The social movements have been a key in the political event that have occurred in the recent years, and has made it clear that access to information has become such an important role that society is willing to leverage technology (digital media) and all its benefits. According to the website of the United States Foreign Affairs, since the 90’s digital media and social networking tools have become civilians, activists, nongovernmental organization, telecommunications companies and governments, so while the map of communications becomes more widespread, it becomes at once more complex, more participatory and generates companies connected to the power to share and access information (Shirky, C. 2011)
Finally social networks over time evolved and with it have been massively increased active users within social networks. Its evolution has greatly influenced various aspects of our daily lives that are the point that today many people cannot live without being connected to some of these social networks, either for entertainment or information of the events that occur daily or even to share with friends. Social networking has influenced the lives of many people without mentioning that nowadays its functionality has come to the point of the policy as now even the president and politicians use this tool to share information or express their desires. A clear example was used by President Obama when he said “Change we can believe in”.
Conclusion
It has been seen that social media has been powerful and relevant in the social upheavals in North Africa and the Middle-East. The speed with which the society communicated with the world and among them was a decisive factor in the overthrow of the dictatorial governments. It seems that this is the way it is intended to achieve independence and democracy in these countries. These countries took decades oppressed and today are free to choose their leaders and to vote for the party they believe best represent them, so it is noted how social media has an important part in our society to regulate changes through the activism and revolution.
Works Cited
Krikorian, O. “Azerbaijan protests loom Facebook monitored”. 10 May, 2011. Web, <http://cima.ned.org/azerbaijan-protest-loom-fabook-monitored>
Al- Jazeera “Timeline: Egypt’s: Revolution”. 15 Dec, 2011. Wed, http://www.alijazeera.com/new/middleast
Jennifer, Preston. “Movement Began with Outrage and a Facebook page That Gave It an Outlet”. 5 Feb, 2011. Web, <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/world/middleeast/06face.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>
Jennifer Aaker, Andy Smith “The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Power ways to use Social”. Book 1th edition publishers Sep, 28 2010, (page. 45)
Cited: Krikorian, O. “Azerbaijan protests loom Facebook monitored”. 10 May, 2011. Web, <http://cima.ned.org/azerbaijan-protest-loom-fabook-monitored> Al- Jazeera “Timeline: Egypt’s: Revolution”. 15 Dec, 2011. Wed, http://www.alijazeera.com/new/middleast Jennifer, Preston. “Movement Began with Outrage and a Facebook page That Gave It an Outlet”. 5 Feb, 2011. Web, <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/world/middleeast/06face.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0> Jennifer Aaker, Andy Smith “The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Power ways to use Social”. Book 1th edition publishers Sep, 28 2010, (page. 45)
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