The Role Of Social Media In The Egyptian Revolution
Facebook to receive active following made up of youth who their central part of their life was the social network and mobile phones. By the end of 2010, around 80 percent of Egyptians had a cell phone. About a quarter of household had access to the Internet. But 20-35-year-old people had a much higher proportion of access to the internet from home, school or cyber cafes. Facebook launched its Arabic version in 2009 and in less than two years the number of users tripled. Reaching 5 million users by 2011. In two months, 600, 000 users were added, and this is when the revolution started. Messages there send over the internet reaching technology savvy, groups of young Egyptians and, mobile phone networks expanded the message to segmentation of the population.
Social media played an important role in the Egyptian revolution. “Demonstrators recorded the events with their mobile phones and shared their videos with people in the country at large and around the world deliberated on Facebook, coordinated through Twitter, and used blogs extensively to convey their opinion and engage in debates”. Twitter provided the technological platform for multiple individuals to rise the movement. Activists planned the protests on Facebook and coordinated through Twitter and then spread them by SMS and at last webcast them on the world YouTube.
Videos of security forces treating brutally had exposed videos of violence of regime in unedited form. Videos of violence just made society believe violence has no consequences for their actions. Instead, there should have been a disciplinary action for exposing the videos on YouTube. They wanted to create a public space where the movement could be free to post what they wanted and give diverse reality, but the mainstream media could report on the protest and give a face to their actions. The correct thing to do what broadcast to the world what the revolution was about. Violence has impacted our daily lives now we see violence everywhere all the way from social media to television channels. There’re family channels that have violence, but it would be better if the Internet wouldn’t allow as much violence especially since its open to the public and young children.
Lastly, the third issue connects to the other two. Violence and the state challenge in their power. Democratic, dictatorial or a mix of both started to be the conflict between the state. They jeoparded the fundamentals of power relationships and ended up failing to integrate the demands. “Their willingness to use extreme violence depends on the extent of their legitimacy, the intensity of the challenge they have to face, and their operational and social capacity to use violence”. Once the social movement gets involved with violence it loses the character as a democratic movement. To the point of becoming ruthless as its oppressors and a bloody civil war.
