The Impact Of Social Media On Arab Countries

“Social media platforms held the promise of being more egalitarian and democratic than mass media in a sense that all users could equally participate and contribute content” (Dijck & Poell, 6). This explains a basic purpose of social media that remains consistent with the democratic values of freedom that the U.S. is founded upon by providing citizens with a platform where they are free to speak their mind. What makes this even more interesting is the ability for people to share their opinions on a stage that has relatively no geographical boundaries. Rather than restricting the spread of individuals’ beliefs, social networking sites help spread messages and information to anyone, faster than was previously possible. According to Dijck and Poell, “social media platforms seldom deal with ‘natural’ geographically or demographically delineated audiences; instead, they expedite connections between individuals, partly allowing the formation of strategic alliances or communities through users’ initiative” (Dijck & Poell, 8). Social networking sites are naturally designed to increase connectivity and interactions among individuals with common interests or beliefs. The idea of connectivity has significantly influenced the way in which protests are held in America and around the world.

Also in Bryant Simon essay “Global Brands Contend with Appreciation for the Local” Simon argues that “global brands will erode national, regional and neighborhood distinctiveness.”(368) Ariela Garvett talks about internet democracy and social media and its potential. She focuses on the potential of worldwide social media and the amount of group power it can give.In Garvett essay “Tweets and Transitions: How the Arab Spring Reaffirms the Internet’s Democratizing Potential” she writes, “The Internet demonstrates the possibilities of change

Social media can be described as a set of websites, online platforms, or applications that give people an opportunity to create, publish or use, save, and share content like images, videos, or text materials over the internet. Regardless on the social media places, anyone can become a publisher, post and comment whatever they would like, disregarding the social media policies. It is seen as a form of convenience that gives people the liberty to express their ideas and thoughts without fear or favor, which offers a kind of democracy, where the rule of the majority wins. Social media permits users to abuse, intimidate, and put threats to others without any fear of punishment. Social media grants its users the opportunity to abuse, intimidate,

The Internet has been changing the world since it is created. As a part of new media, social media is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. It has been helped to create a digital global village that 26% of the world’s population is using social media and the number is keep increasing. (Qualman, 2013) This essay will attempt to discuss how has the social media changed the public sphere, mainly focus on the improvement of public participation, social relations and information dissemination. Also Mainland China is taken as an example to show that social media enabling democracy in a developing country. Social media is also being used in good ways to spread information. There are some disadvantages to be analyzed, too. The issues like lack of privacy, social media violence and social media out of control will be discussed in this essay.

Technology is being used all across the globe in everyday life. With the development of technology, the development of social media became very popular. In “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell stresses that “real” revolutions do not depend on social media to be resolved or started; however, small revolutions can depend on social media or networking. Although Dennis Baron is sending the same message in “Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters?” there is one point that Baron makes that differs from that of Gladwell’s; Baron actually believes that a game changing revolution can occur with the use of social media.

In the aftermath of the Arab uprisings the role and influence of social media became a contentious issue among news media outlets and political analysts. In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism, “New research suggests that the primary role was in spreading news outside of the region, connecting a global audience to the events through tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.” While the mainstream media focused heavily on young protesters mobilizing in the streets with smartphones in hand–much of the attention was on whether social media played a causal role in the uprisings.

The term “social media” refers to the wide range of Internet-based and mobile services that allow users to participate in online exchanges, contribute user-created content, or join online communities (Dewing). It has become common today to use applications such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to express and share your thoughts, opinions, and common interest. In Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted, writer Malcolm Gladwell touches upon the issues of social media’s role in activism vs. the traditional way of becoming a true activist Many of us today use these social networks for its beneficial approach to attract users and acquaintances to support their cause or

- “Arab spring,” Egypt, Libya – young people want what we have, to be able to speak about things: Facebook

Delving deep into the history of how new media has the ability to cause the autocratic ways of governments to run into a stone wall, the infamous incident of how university students of Indonesia leveraged on the power of e-mail to overthrow the then corrupt President Suharto presents itself as an excellent illustration. Through examining more recent cases where the citizens of Tunisia and Egypt have tapped on the power of social media to help upend the existing political order, the potency of new media becomes apparent.

The 21st century has witnessed some of the greatest development in the field of social media up to this point. The creation of social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube has established a crucial platform for communication and connection between different parts of the globe. In the past few years, SNS has not only been used to share our personal experiences with friends and families but has become an important platform for political discussions. With the exponential increase in the number of users for SNS, it has become the main source of news coverage for thousands of Y and Z generation populations. I would argue that social media is a bitter-sweet gift that presents us the opportunity to bring the world closer, but at the same time makes it easier for dominant groups to influence the subordinate group. Depending on how a person uses social media, it can have either a positive or negative effect on the individual’s political and global awareness.

Johan Pouwelse, a professor at Delft University and a technological company founder, has written several articles (Pouwelse) that stress the dangers of filtering the internet. One such article is “Moving Toward a Censorship-free Internet,” which was published in the Internet Engineering Task Force Journal (IETF). In this article, Pouwelse references the Arab Spring, which was a set of revolutions that took place throughout the Arab world in 2011 and 2012 and resulted in overthrows of oppressive governments. In nearly all the affected nations, dissenters used Twitter and Facebook to organize their protests and planned outcries (Heins). These two social media platforms are easily accessible and allow their users to post any information that they please; this served as both a benefit and a drawback during the protests. “During the 2011 Arab Spring,” Pouwelse writes in in his article for the IETF, “Egyptian authorities demanded that telecommunication companies sever their broadband connections and mobile networks—both local and European operators were forced to comply, and, as a result, digital Egypt vanished.” The world stopped receiving tweets from their Egyptian contacts, stopped viewing videos posted to YouTube by Egyptian vloggers. Online entertainment halted, which was a victory for the government. However, this blackout did not put a stop to open criticism, as the Egyptian government intended. The

Current and revolutionary events around the world raise two questions: What role does social media play in these revolutions? Should we credit social media with the outcomes of these events just because they are somewhat involved? In “Small Change,” by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell stresses how modern-day social media websites are of no comparison to the strong bonds and hierarchies that contributed to most of the reformation that happened during the Civil Rights Movement. He suggests that social media websites have networking opportunities only. “Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters,” an article by Dennis Baron, supports this claim indirectly by stating that even though social media can get the word out, no website can replace the voices of people, or their rebellious spirit. I concur with both authors. People can use Facebook and Twitter all they want in order to spread the word, but without their thoughts and intuitions, these networks are useless.

Through social media, information technology has transcended geographical borders and spread ideas and information on a global platform. It is via this platform that the public has been able to address key issues in society, resulting in a number of socio-political movements to emerge and strengthen in a short amount of time. The particular social media network that has transformed the way we communicate and disseminate information in this manner is Twitter. Within its unique feature set and multi-platform presence, it is becoming even more evident that it contributes significantly to mediating cultural performances online not only amongst its users but also amongst the world at large.

As society and the nations therein progress, more threats to democracy and the liberties it protects arise. Autocracies continue to try to strangle the essence of freedom from the nations they overtake and go as far as to thwart protests that oppose their oppressive regimes, creating a sense of bleakness and making people of these nations feel powerless. With this comes the question of whether democracy will even prevail.

Social media is any website that allows social interaction. Social media is growing rapidly throughout the world. More adults and teenagers are joining sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to interact with friends, family, and strangers. The introduction of social media has changed the world in many ways. It affects each individual in different ways. Today it can be used as a very helpful tool in changing a person’s life, but at the same time cause such conflicts which can negatively impact a person. While there are some negatives associated with social media, the positives in communication all around, has made the world stronger and a better place to live in.