Arab spring was a revolution against the oppressive government regime. The protest took place in the Middle East, and it involved a series of anti-government protest, armed rebellions, and uprisings that occurred in the year 2010. The rally started in regards to the low standards of living that existed in the country as well as the oppressive regimes that were prevalent in the region. Arab upspring began in Tunisia and later spread to other countries and in the whole area. Social media and specifically Facebook and Twitter played a key role in the spread of protest among the people since it created a platform in which people of all regions had the chance to communicate and plan for other activities. Social media offered new opportunities for mobilization of the public and in giving people a chance to show their reactions towards the protest. Debates and campaigns got done via social media with people expected to show their reactions on Facebook and Twitter. Arab springs demonstrated how one could use social media to mobilize groups of people in different countries and to make significant decisions based on the information sent via social media. An excellent example to show the role of Facebook and Twitter was the defeat of the long-term dictator Hosni Mubarak who ruled in Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain. Social media succeeded in bringing revolution since people could read more on the success stories of the protest that prevailed in other countries which made them get encouraged to continue with the rebellion. Discussions and contributions could get made through posts in tweets and on Facebook and this made people committed towards a common goal. The paper will feature an analysis of the role that Facebook and Twitter played in Arab Springs.

One of the roles that Facebook and Twitter played in the Arab upspring was that of encouraging active engagement among the people in the region. Through social media, fear that could have been there got eliminated. The fear of a single person being liable for the protest was removed by psychologically encouraging people to share information after seeing the contribution made by others. Social media made it possible to pass critical information while bypassing the role of government in the region. Activists took the task of making people understand the challenges that people from other countries faced, and this gave them the power and motivated them towards active engagement despite the social background and the status held by an individual. Facebook was used to schedule protest and to mobilize people to participate in the protest. Twitter made the abused civilians rise towards a justice government without necessarily having to fear the ruling government. Active engagement also came up as people from the marginalized community were able to view and contribute to the posts found on Facebook and Twitter.

Another critical role played by social media in Arab Upspring was that of allowing disseminating of information and enabling effective communication among the people. Through Facebook and Twitter, people were able to make communication and interact to come up with a common goal. Both pro and anti-government demonstrators were organized through the use of social media. Information got disseminated through Facebook, and this made it possible to achieve the set goals and objectives. Debates made via online means proceeded the demonstration that got held on the ground. Political discussions got shaped through the use of social media. It was possible to share accurate and censored information that was useful in Arab upspring. Other people in the world were also able to know what was happening in that regions and they were also able to air out their views and to give the activists new tricks on how to get the justice. In Egypt, most people had not gone to school, but the social made them aware of political wills as well as the tactics used to overthrow any government ruling in a dictatorship. Twitter was used to give breaking news, and this encouraged people to continue with the protest. The posts were directed towards meeting the right audience and also increased access to the information that was useful to the people.

Cyberactivism was the other factor that led to Arab Upspring. The youths took to the streets with the help of their smartphones. Most protests were conducted using digital technology in which all the people in the region could contribute to the debate while giving their views. Youths got mobilized through Facebook and Twitter in which all the posts were directed towards a specific audience. People in all the regions occupied Cyber-space, and those who had no access to the internet got the information from those connections. Arab-American media was generally applicable in meeting the targeted audience. The credibility of the report was however questionable in that one could not understand where the information originated from, whether it was the corrected information or whether the events happened on the ground at a particular time. Facebook was basically to mobilize the audience, and Twitter got used in coordinating the audience while YouTube helped to tell the whole world. There existed video clips that circulated the globe informing people regarding the existing events. Government agents had no control over the information shared in the social media plus the people that were responsible for mobilizing the citizens. Cyberactivism provided a platform for people to give their views followed by networking and organizations. Images, symbolic and iconic models spread widely in the region, and this increased the awareness on the need to withdraw the ruling regime.

Social media also made it possible to empower the whole generation. The protest began by an individual who was denied a chance to sell his merchandise without paying a huge bribe and could not afford the charges. The governor refused to hear his grievances, and this made him lit himself as a sign of showing there existed corrupt and injustice leaders. The protest provoked people to go on the street and to rise against the existing corrupt government. Twitter and Facebook gave people a chance to air out their grievances through the use of social media. People from all generation got empowerment by giving them a chance to air out their opinions. The convenient twitter handles and Facebook pages gave people an opportunity to hear views from those who had a success story regarding the same issue. Facebook helped to coordinate civilians who had a common challenge of facing corruption from the existing leadership.

Facebook and Twitter played a significant role in the continuation of the protest. Facebook pages were opened where people could view comments from people both insiders and the outsiders. Both young and old people had a chance to post and twit about their involvement in the protest. False accounts were used to open Facebook pages where views and contributions got made. Images and video clips could be shared in such pages to give hope that justice will finally get achieved.

A good example is that through Facebook there was the formation of the first support group in connection to what had taken place in Sidi Bouzid and more demonstrations got organized. Facebook pages and Twitter handles were crucial in a time where all other methods of communication got censored. Iconic and historical images could be shared in social media motivating people to continue with the fight. People across all demographic regions were involved, and this includes people in all areas, in all professional background, different gender, different religion and in all political affiliation. A right Facebook page that was useful in the Arab springs was “We are all Khaled Said.”

Social media enhanced the change of story of revolution by giving an opportunity for structure in a chaotic environment. The cause and the process of protest were conducted online since it could not be possible when people are offline. Social media information was uncensored, and this implies that people had a chance to air out their views without fear. The change was possible since there was a presence of a platform for personal expression. There were bridge builders between the young civilians and the activists through the creation of a channel for public channels of engagement and participation. It brought change in the new arena in terms of citizen journalism. A good example was the twit from Tahrir book which was used for coordination and organization. Facebook was then used for mobilization and networking of the community members.

Facebook posts offered a chance for people to come together with a common goal. People from different countries in the regions fought with togetherness to come up with better tactics for use in withdrawing the existing government. Social media speeded upon operation of the people since they were all united with a common objective. People’s views, ideas, and opinions were directed towards the same side which reduced internal conflicts among the civilians. The people had the same desire of change, and they were aimed at acting towards bringing transition in the country.

Through social media, people were able to bypass the state-run journalism entities. Government rules did not hinder people from participating and airing out their views. In some countries, signals were blocked by the government, but this did not stop people from attending through social media. Government lost control over what was happening in social media, and even though they tried to block most of the channels of communication, it was impossible since social media posts were uncensored. Televisions and national radios were not used in delivering information regarding the protest. Coordination was done through twitter while mobilizing people was mostly performed using Facebook. It thus eliminated the need to depend on the state-run government entities.

Social media restructure power by encouraging people from all demographic characteristics to participate fully towards protest in all countries. Women had a chance to join in the protest. All the youths, old and women could participate fully without any form of discrimination. There were bridge builders who linked the youths and women towards the smooth running of the protest. Women could easily send images and video clips without any form of discrimination.

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