Introduction
Relationships between individuals have been greatly changed since the introduction of social media. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made it easy for people to pass information across the globe. Therefore, this has been made possible by considerably reducing the obstacles of communication. By just clicking a button, an individual is able to get information from all parts of the world. People can take part in increasing responsiveness for a particular occurrence by sharing information to their acquaintances on social media. Therefore, information is capable of reaching many people based on how it is represented and the target audience.
How social media controls activism and revolt
Social media has controlled revolt and activism in a number of ways. It has improved the passage of information by improving the rate at which it moves and reducing the obstacle along its path. For instance, people were not only able to share information about tsunami, but also provide their assistance to the affected individuals. Social media has improved communication through word of mouth. Through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, powerless people have been able to work together, organize, and express their concerns. Gladwell states that “With Facebook and Twitter and the like, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns.”
The protest opposing Moldova’s communist government was managed through twitter hence it was nicknamed the Twitter Revolution. Consequently, this clearly explains how social media has greatly influenced activism and revolt. Social media has been used to pass the information on the number of people killed by revolution. Therefore, this information is considered to be valid since it is updated in the real-time context. Social media has also affected activism and revolt by improving the information’s emotional impact (Hensley). Due to the psychological impact, individuals will be ready to participate in activism and revolt events across the world. Through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, journalists obtain relevant information on revolt activities hence they do not have to be present at the scenes. For instance, Gladwell stated that “Western journalists who could not reach or did not bother reaching people on the ground in Iran simply scrolled through the English-language tweets post with tag #iranelection.”
The current Arab spring has been greatly influenced by Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in several ways. Moreover, there are a number of debates on how social media has contributed to the current Arab spring. Arguably, many people believe that they were the tools used to initiate revolutions experienced in Tunisia and Egypt, considering the increase in the number of Facebook and Twitter users. Therefore, the uprisings were nicknamed twitter or Facebook revolutions. Emiroglu states that “The Facebook site continues to grow in popularity in the region. Facebook users jumped from19 million at the end of 2010 to 43 million today. Arabic is the fastest growing language on Facebook. Egypt is the single largest source of subscribers, with nearly 11 million.”
Conclusion
Conclusively, individuals can share their enthusiasm and awareness to take part in activism and revolt for their common benefit. Social media has played a great role in the current Arab spring. For instance, most of the communications were done through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Arguably, journalists can provide relevant information without having to be present at the scene.
Works Cited
Emiroglu, Sema. The role of social media in Arab spring. 2012. Web.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Small change: why the revolution will not be tweeted. 2010. Web.
Hensley, Molly. A different kind of activism. 2010. Web.