Facebook Revolutions? The Role of Social media

2011 has seen a protest movement spread across the Arab world which has resulted in two leaders being overthrown in Tunisia and Egypt. The movement is still growing in Yemen and Bahrain, not to mention the civil war brewing in Libya. These have been dubbed ‘Facebook Revolutions’ which suggests that social media has been a catalyst. However is it really the case that Facebook (and other social media) enabled these movements?
The growth of social media over a decade has encouraged many communications and public relations academics and practitioners to look at its role in activist and protest movements. They highlight how it can provide a means for individuals to network and communicate with people they have never met in various geographical locations with only one-click and with an air of anonymity. They suggest that it has created a space for activist and protest groups to form without the need to be physically present, helping avoid intervention from authorities. This organisation also takes considerably less time. Social media enables people to join a movement in one day, organise an action and carry it out the next day! It also provides a sphere for people to communicate with others outside the group without mediators like the media.
All these aspects can be seen in the ‘Facebook Revolutions’-


Facebook enables people to create and join groups regarding the movement which helps people mobilise in large numbers. 

     

 
 


It also provides a way to quickly organise gathering and matches in different locations by creating events.
 
 
 

Twitter has been used to direct people towards information and express opinions.

 
 
 
 
 
 




It helps give people up-to-date information, and was seen as so important that a voicemail was set up when the internet was shut down. This helped protesters to communicate what was going on to each other, and also to the outside world.

YouTube has aided the idea of the citizen journalist by providing a space where anyone can upload video concerning the events. This meant that the world was supplied unprecedented access to images of what was going on without the need for international journalism.

However, the underlying social issues in these countries were the reason why people joined the movements and these people would quite possibly have protested against them without social media. It may just have taken more time, especially considering it all started when a street vendor in Tunisia set himself alight!
The role of social media in the recent events in the Arab world cannot be ignored. It enabled fast and open communication between like-minded people without authorities, and also helped to spread their cause across the world. However it is tool, not a cause!

Sources;
Pictures taken from
https://www.facebook.com/#!/Freesoulfree
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Support-egypt-uprising/184584958231055
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/15/tunisia-protests-the-facebook-revolution.html
www.twitter.com/
Videos from
http://youtu.be/ccjP2Scf7rM
http://youtu.be/znNnaY6um1w
Other Sources
http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/assets/documents/pdf/newmediapower.pdf
http://www.economist.com/node/18486005
http://arabmediasociety.sqgd.co.uk/articles/downloads/20080929153219_AMS6_David_Faris.pdf
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/01/google-twitter-egypt