Jas Elmer
Professor Dylan Craig
SIS 105-001H
November 26, 2011
Social
Media and Political Change
In recent months vast political changes have been
occurring worldwide. Important political gains have already been made in many
Middle Eastern countries through the Arab Spring movement and future political
changes could be seen in other regions of the world through the Occupy movement
which has now drawn out protestors in over 70 countries (Occupy Wall Street).
Media has played an important role in these events; however the traditional
media sources have played a relatively minor role compared to social media such
as Facebook, Twitter and Blogs. Although it is now possible to see news from
foreign sources, social media provides tools for political change that
traditional sources simply can’t provide. Social media allows citizens of
countries to talk with one another, leading to a stronger Trans Advocacy
Network, a sense of international community and a quick and efficient way to
share ideas and to mobilize for protests.
Previously,
public media was the only means of news and information which people had access
to. However as time has progressed the options people have to get the news has
expanded exponentially. People still depend on traditional media for their news
however “the future
of journalism is probably going to be smaller and smaller news outlets having
bigger and bigger impact” (Council on Foreign Relations). The effects of blogs,
twitter and facebook have already proved crucial in many different political
issues around the world including the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement.
These new outlets of media have helped to create more change and political
awareness than many forms of traditional media do.
Due to
oppressive governments and frightened journalists many news sources are not
accurate or simply do not cover information. One example is Tunisia, “official
media does not cover what is really happening in Tunisia, so bloggers and
online activists try to do this” (Channel 4 News). Because official media fails
to cover important issues regarding politics, human rights, military conflict
and upcoming revolutions bloggers have been filling the gap. Internet activist
Ala’a Jarban says that, "Facebook and social media are playing a major
role in all changes and revolutions happening in the Arab region” (Channel 4
News). One of the main reasons why bloggers and other individuals participating
in social media have had such a great impact is they connect different groups
of people.
Due to globalization it is much easier to communicate
with people in different areas. News sources such as BBC and Al Jazeera allow
people to hear news from different parts of the country. However, in many areas
such as Tunisia public media is not able to get stories out to local
populations or international populations. Social media allows for communication
between individuals which is more effective in affecting political change than
traditional news. Social media is important
because it allows many different groups of people to communicate with one
another. Social media is important because it links many groups together
including “regular citizens, activists, nongovernmental organizations,
telecommunications firms, software providers, governments” (Foreign Affairs). This allows average citizens
to communicate with members of different states and allows them, in some cases,
to informally or formally communicate with their governments. This change in
communication has given many people more opportunities because as “the communications landscape gets denser…the networked population is
gaining greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public
speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action” (Foreign
Affairs). This is because it leads to a stronger Trans Advocacy
Network.
In the case of the Arab Spring social media has given
citizens of the Middle East the ability to communicate with people living in
different countries such as the United States and European countries. This allows
the citizens of foreign countries to encourage their respective governments to
put pressure on Middle Eastern governments. The Trans Advocacy Network is one
factor which has aided in the spread of the Arab Spring.
The Arab Spring is a perfect example of how political
change in one country can affect another. Although all of the major newspapers
and news channels have had coverage on the events occurring in the Middle East,
social media played a particularly important role in the revolutions because it
gave people information in a different way than traditional media did.
Social media made it
possible for the revolts in the Middle East to not only gain support in the
Arab world but in the international scene as well. Throughout these revolutions
Facebook and Twitter gave minute-by-minute accounts of these revolutions for
many people following around the world (Channel 4 News). This use of social
media allowed the international community to get involved and also to give
people strength in knowing that other people were supporting them. In Libya
they had a website in English dedicated to the cause of the protesters in order
to “appeal to a wider global audience, which has been key for online activists”
(Channel 4 News). Activists from Libya have also said that they have received
"overwhelming support, which has allowed all of the people in the region
to come together" (Channel 4 News). They also believe that “social media
has created an international show of solidarity” (Channel 4 News) and has
allowed them to gain support not only from Tunisia and Egypt but the United
States and beyond (Channel 4 News). The relatively small incident which began
in Tunisia spread like wild fire. The events in “Tunisia and Egypt inspired
young Iraqis to communicate their opinions” (Channel 4 News) and quickly led to
the Facebook group “Iraqi Streets for Change” (Channel 4 News). The revolutions
taking place in the Middle East stretched further than they probably imagined
and with the help of social media their idea of revolution also reached the
United States.
Although
most countries participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement are in a much
different position than those countries in the Middle East the Occupy Wall
Street website says that they are “using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve [their] ends” (Occupy Wall Street).
It goes on to say that they are “inspired by
popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and [aim] to expose how the richest 1%
of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy” (Occupy Wall
Street). From the information provided on their website it appears that
the interaction between the revolutionaries of the Arab Spring and of the
Occupy Movement have helped citizens form a common international identity in
order to combat against the unfair economic and political situations occurring
throughout the world. The impact the Arab Spring has had upon the Occupy Wall
Street movement shows how social media can cause political ideas to spread and
how political changes can affect one another. It also shows how important
social media is in bringing groups together.
The Council on Foreign Relations says
that the reason why social media is particularly helpful is that it is “natively good at group-forming” (Council on Foreign Relations).
Previous to social media the only outlets people had to communicate with one
another were telephones and televisions. The Council on Foreign Relations
explains that social media is more successful because “Internet allows for not
just one-to-many communications like television or one-to-one communications
like the telephone, but also many-to-many communications” (Council on Foreign Relations).
The ability which social media has to provide an outlet for many-to-many
communications will lead to “political and social ramifications” (Council on Foreign
Relations). The Arab
Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movements both show how social media can be
used to form groups of people with common interests and how social media allows
people to organize movements.
Social
media provides a way for people to mobilize. Facebook and Twitter accounts
allow people to share stories, videos and pictures of protests encouraging
others to get involved. People also use their individual twitter and facebook
accounts in order to give updates on protests in which they are participating. Additionally
sites also have discussions about social inequalities and maps and details
regarding upcoming protests (Channel 4 News). Many people have become engaged
in social media and belong to groups regarding these movements. For example, the
main facebook page where activists have been discussing protests in Egypt has
attracted more than 82,000 members (Channel 4 News). Social media also has
acted as a way for people to keep safe during protests. Blogs, Twitters and
Facebooks circulated “pleas for medical aid and even tips of how to create
home-made tear gas masks” (Channel 4 News) during the Egyptian revolution. The
main Occupy website, and also websites for particular cities participating in
the Occupy movement have lists of tips on how to avoid confrontation with
police and how to lead peaceful protests (Occupy Wall Street). These are just a
few of the ways in which social media has helped revolutions in the Middle East
and worldwide.
Although
traditional media is still successful in informing people on current events and
has a significant place in our societies. Social media provides opportunities
for people to create political change in ways that public media does not
provide. Facebook, Twitter and blogs allow people from different backgrounds
and nationalities to connect. This in
turn leads to a more connected international community and a stronger Trans Advocacy
Network. This network provides an international support system which allows ideas
to spread to other countries, similar to how the ideas of the Arab Spring moved
to Wall Street. Additionally, social media also allows people to form groups in
order to achieve a common goal. Social media allows people to communicate with
one another in a way which newspapers, televisions, radios and telephones
cannot. Although traditional media is important social media leads to political
change because it allows people to communicate with one another allowing them
to rally into local and international groups.
Works
Cited
"Arab Revolt: Social Media and the People’s
Revolution." channel4.com. Channel
4 News, 25
Feb. 2011.
Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
"Digital Power: Social Media and Political Change." cfr.org. Council
on Foreign Relations, 31
Mar.
2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
"The Future of News." cfr.org. Council
on Foreign Relations, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street, 20011. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
Very interesting Jas!
ReplyDeleteThe importance and effectiveness of social media websites was highlighted in an event I attended about the African famine. With social media becoming increasingly important, how can we prevent false news spreading throughout the internet? Printed and televised news sources are held to certain standards but if you tweet incorrect news there is no way to ensure the information can be changed.
That's a great question! Originally I was going to talk about the drug trade in Mexico in this paper as well. While researching I found a lot of stories about people mistweeting information. There were instances where drug lords tweeted there were issues in one area, so all of the cops went there and they attacked another part of the city. There was also an instance of a woman tweeting cartels were stealing children from schools, when in fact they weren't, and there was huge traffic issues as people tried to rescue their kids from schools. I think the what will eventually lead to correct information through social media sights is reputations. If people become active enough on the internet they will have a reputation for delivering accurate news. People will eventually follow these people and will pay less attention to people who may not post as accurate information.
ReplyDeleteJas,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, and you took a very thorough approach to examining the topic! I think it’s amazing how big of an impact social media sites like Facebook can have. I attended a talk given by two founders of the April 6th Youth Movement, and they talked about the importance of social media in organizing and spreading the word about protests. I think that the most important thing about social media is accessibility. Anyone can form a Facebook group about something they care about; anyone can use social media to spread word about an issue. It definitely helps form and strengthen Transnational Advocacy Networks, like you said.