To be honest, I knew nothing about this except that it was happening and so the lecture we had on it was a pretty big eye opener for me. It was so inspiring to hear of people who stood up and risked their lives for freedom and really brought home how lucky we are to live where we do. I thought it was amazing that some of the people who were really leading the revolutions were women who were prepared to put their faces on the internet asking people to join them in fighting for their rights in countries where women are not treated as equal to men.
I particularly liked the interactive timeline we were shown of the Middle East Protests which is a very well put together way to get an idea of how truly amazing the revolutions are. This picture also shows how amazing the revolutions are: look how many people came! The kind of political protests that happen here where a couple hundred people march along a bridge holding signs is nothing in comparison to this! This is just an uncontrollable crowd, an immense amount of people. It's amazing that they are all there, wanting the same thing, all working together. And how did it happen?
Well, Social networking. I particularly liked the quote from an anonymous protestor:
"We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate and Youtube to tell the world"
So I do believe that Social networking is an essential tool to the arabsprings; however, Morozov argues "that these digital tools are simply, well, tools, and social change continues to involve many painstaking, longer-term efforts to engage with political institutions and reform movements." I do agree with that as well.
Social Networking is just a tool albeit an amazing one. Without the people, social networking would be nothing. Without somebody actually having the courage to post a video on youtube calling for people to act, there would be no revolution. However, I think that social networking is very useful for getting a mass reaction. One person by themselves protesting can't achieve a lot usually. However, if they post something on Facebook about why they are protesting, and people like it and spread it - that can spread like wildfire. The more people are talking about it, the more people want to get involved. The more people want to get involved, the more people hear about it and in the end - EVERYONE IS ACTING when before - without social networking - people wouldn't have known about it and people wouldn't have been pushed to act. It really is quite infectious and I'm sure that while many of the people in the middle east would have felt a want to stand up for themselves, it could only have happened when they KNEW they had the full support of so many others that they can rise up together.
Power by Numbers. Thanks to Social Networking.
6 comments:
I definitely have to agree with you on your thoughts on social networking Annie. Social networks would be nothing without people, as are purely tools for users to voice their thoughts - plain and simple.
I think that their effectiveness comes from the participatory involvement on the facebook events and twitter feeds, as the numbers go up, the idea of jumping on the bandwagon really does become infectious.
Hey :)
I definitely agree that here in Australia we are very lucky that we have no conflict. I am glad that they worst thing we have to listen too is the media rambling on when Kevin Rudd will oust Julia Gillard for the top job back lol :/
I think the fact that Australia is so isolated and away from the rest of the world, that these events seem to have little to no effect on us.
Out of the whole lecture I also think that the quote of "We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate and Youtube to tell the world" best stuck in my mind.
In regards to Morozov's comments; though I do understand where he is coming from, I do not think he gives enough credit to the power of social networks (calling them only "tools"). I believe that they are more than that with today them being a large size of our everyday lives. And though I dont believe that Facebook, twitter ect.. start protests, they surely contribute the size they escalate to. Without them the middle eastern conflicts would have not escalated to the size they became, hence the protests would of had little or no bearing impact.
Without the user where would the social network be? They would not exist, there social places... you go to the party with the most people right?... I agree with you Annie, participatory culture is what makes such things as Facebook and the otherlikeness' exist...look at myspace...i even read that Tom is aware that Myspace is dead. Thanks to the people who took over though however.
Its the people who make social networking. If your friends weren't on Facebook, then it would be rather boring. I switched from MySpace to Facebook because all my friends did, and it was what everyone was talking about.
It is incredible how quickly people join in on an idea. Social networking is all about connecting, engaging, and socialising. It seems to me that the power of social networks are more than just a tool. I can understand Morozov's point of view, I however, do not agree with it.
I love that comment from the anonymous protestor. Sometimes I wonder how active these protestors or new cyber-social revolutionaries would be, if they didn't have social networks at their disposal. I know some wouldn't get off their arse, but would others still seek out activism if it wasn't available to them at the click of a button?
At the end of the day, you're right, social networking is just a tool, a very powerful one, but is only given power through people use of it.
I also take your view on social networking and how without people regularly contributing to it, it just wouldn't be interesting enough for us to use in our day to day lives. Because people are on Facebook and Twitter so frequently, it makes sense why somebody would want to share their passion about a certain issue and try and make a protest. Like you said, it's power by numbers.
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