Change
is happening in the Middle East. In what is known as the “Arab Spring”, people
all over the Arab world are holding demonstrations to protest government
corruption and police brutality. One of the main driving forces behind this era
of revolution is social media and its networks. From the news articles, I’ve
seen that the start of the Arab Spring can be traced to one act of protest.
About
a year ago, 26-year old Mohamed Bouazizi was selling fruits and vegetables in a
small rural city in Tunisia when a policewoman asked him to hand over his cart.
Bouazizi didn’t have a permit to sell the goods, but as the sole source of
income for his widowed mother and six siblings, he didn’t have a choice.
Naturally, Bouazizi refused to give his cart to the policewoman. As a result,
she publically humiliated him by slapping him. Angered by the humiliation,
Bouazizi went to the front of a government building and set himself on fire.
Bouazizi’s act of opposition was immediately broadcasted through this city and
sparked more protests. The protests spread through Tunisia and set off more
protests in the Middle East, and this became the Arab Spring.
It
is amazing that such a giant revolution was sparked by one desperate act in a
rural town. This is because the social media network has allowed for
information to be spread easily. The accessibility of communication methods has
decreased the number of isolated societal groups, creating a large network
where all individuals have access to up-to-date news and media. Through such
the strongly-connected component that is the social media network, news can
pass from a small town all the way to several countries. As stated in an article, “communication
methods such as satellite TV, the Internet, and mobile phones have stimulated
change by providing the Middle East and North Africa region with unparalleled
channels of discourse”.
In
the past, information was mainly shared by newspapers or news stations, and a
journalist or news reporter said something that was not allowed by the
government, they were simply fired. Now with the use of mobiles phones, blogs,
etc, government-unapproved information can be shared quickly and easily, and
opposition parties can be efficiently organized without the government
noticing.
In
the case of the Arab Spring, “technology acted as an accelerant that allowed
images to spread and fill the gap that mainstream media had left behind”. For instance, 90% of all individuals in the
countries affected by the Arab Spring have access to satellite TV, which played
a huge role in broadcasting police brutality. Such a strongly connected network
can spread information to even the most isolated groups. With the new knowledge
and awareness, people can form their own opinions and act on them.
In
the past few years, social media networks have grown tremendously, reaching
even the remote cities. From the Arab Spring, we can see that this far outreach
of information and decrease in isolated social groups can spur tremendous
political changes.
Though 90% of individuals in Arab Spring countries do have satellite TV access, the role of social media in the uprisings is still a topic of some debate. Occidentalist Media recently wrote on a similar topic:
ReplyDeletehttp://occidentalistmedia.blogspot.com/2012/01/social-media-arab-twitter-feeds-to.html