Social media stokes flame of revolution
Social media has helped to spawn many positive changes in various spheres. Add to that the recent political earthquakes in the Middle East. We are now seeing a new trend in that the medium is being increasingly used by commoners to take on mighty dictators. People in the Middle East used Twitter and Facebook to organize rallies and this set the tone for the revolutions.
Bloggers and tweeter users had a field day as the U.S. pressure began mounting on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Blogs, in particular, are seen as an electronic slap in the face of dictators as social media gave people a voice to speak their minds out and highlight the seriousness of their problems.
Some leading Television channels used videos from Facebook and YouTube as they were unable to send their reporters to violence-torn areas. Libya is another example where journalists relied on social media to obtain videos and other source of information. Though the Libyan authorities tried to crackdown on bloggers, it did not succeed. CNN used numerous video clips from
Facebook to highlight the plight of rebels in Gaddafi’s strongholds. In Egypt, many bloggers found the going tough as the authorities forced the internet service providers to shut down to limit the flow of information to the international community.
In Bahrain, tweeter users were able to organize the first rally against the authorities and since then the use of social media increased dramatically. One individual who emerged as the hero was Wael Ghonim. Ghonim is Google’s head of marketing for the Middle East and Africa.
He was arrested soon after the protests broke out. However, there was a concerted social media campaign. Bloggers castigated the authorities for detaining Ghonim. Ghonim was subsequently freed. Similarly, protests have engulfed other countries such as Yemen and Syria.
In Syria, people took to Facebook to create awareness about their regime’s anti-people activities, thereby calling for the overthrow of the regime. Social media was the key driver in the revolutions in the Middle East. Without social media, the people in the Middle East would have found it difficult to make their voices heard and muster support for their cause
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