Without social media, I believe the Arab revolutions still would have taken place. According to the Goldstone reading, there are 4 components needed to precede revolution: an unjust government that the people view as a threat to the future, an elite/ military class that no longer is willing to defend the country, a broad based section of the population that mobilizes, and international powers that refuse to step in. He goes on to argue that social media is only a tool utilized when all of these are in place that then allows uprisings to be more productive. The media in addition to revolutionary conditions and the inability of a state to control an upsurge is what fosters change- media is not a sole condition.
As it is useful as a tool, social media is best described by an Egyptian protester as, “We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and Youtube to tell the world.” This shows how new media was not used to fight the regime, but instead as an organizational/ planning device. It allowed more people to become involved and created an atmosphere for people to discuss and plan out opinions and revolutionary tactics. Though social media was probably not a necessary factor for the revolutions of 2011 to happen, they helped to quicken and increase the effectiveness of the movements.
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