Internet Revolutions

The Arab Spring is also known as a social media revolution.  With the help of Facebook, the world quickly knew about what was happening in the Arab World. Facebook helped to show the world the rebellions that were occurring across many nations. Social media was the driving force behind the Arab Spring. Mohamed Bouazizi, the man who set himself on fire, will be forever remembered in history. He marched in front of a government building and set himself on fire in protest of the Tunisian government. His suicide was documented by people in the street. These videos then hit the internet and sparked a revolution. What happened in Tunisia sparked multiple uprisings in different countries.

An activist in Egypt even became known as “Facebook Girl”. Her and other activists were incredibly active on social media during the Egyptian rebellion. They demanded democracy and spread the news about the injustices that were occurring in Egypt. During the Arab Spring, her and other activist created a website to encourage young people to strike.

I think about the Arab Spring revolution a lot because it is the first of its kind. Without the video of Bouazizi lighting himself on fire making it to the internet, it is unlikely that the Arab Spring would have started. The rest of the world was able to see the frustrations of Arab world through that video. When thinking of the Arab Spring, Bouazizi and social media will always be mentioned. The use of technology was critical in the Arab Spring. The protest that happened after Bouazizi’s death helped to raise global awareness of the protest. Social media was a tool because it helped to quickly spread what was happening in Tunisia across the world.

These viral protests inspired many other nations in the Arab world. Governments began to fall apart with the help of social media. The world became tuned into what was happening in the Arab world. Young people were mainly responsible for using social media and garnering attention for the things that were occurring in their country.  The media also recorded the movements of young protestors.

During the uprising, people created online networks to unite activists. People used their cellphones to record what was going on during their protest so that they could upload it online. It is believed that “News [or social media outlets] that use bit.ly links are more likely to spread information outside of the region than inside it, acting like a megaphone more than a rallying cry.” (Pew Research Center) At the time, major news outlets could not even keep up with the recordings of protestors. 

Although, I will not be writing about the Arab Spring, I wanted to provide a brief history of it and how social media was important in it. Most recently, there has been turmoil in Sudan.  The Sudanese people were protesting against their government. All of the protests were nonviolent until the government started killing innocent people. Major news outlets in the Western world were essentially silent on the violence occurring in Sudan and those who knew about it were incredibly frustrated that there was/is minimal coverage. People begged for newspapers like CNN to write more articles about Sudan and to spread awareness but no one was doing it. During the violence in Sudan, the government turned off the internet in the entire country. They hoped that the removal of the internet would decrease and eventually cease all protest. This was not the case. People found out that Sudan’s internet was shut off and decided to take action. Within a few days, hundreds of thousands of instagram users changed their avi to a blue color to raise awareness of what was happening in Sudan. Even though the government had shut down the internet, people were still able to record what was happening in Sudan. The shutdown of the government did not end the revolution rather it intensified it. More people became aware about what was happening in Sudan. Hashtags were made. Many celebrities began to post about it. Fundraisers were created. So much came into fruition because of social media.

From these two examples, I have seen that social media can be an immense weapon against governments. It can play a major role in dismantling government systems and I would like my research to focus on Sudan and the power of social media. Without social media, the world would have remained silent about Sudan. Social media is the only reason why people were able to find out what was going on in Sudan. Without it, millions of people would not have been aware of the dire situation.

This topic relates to my life because I have Sudanese friends who kept me aware of the situation while it was happening. However, when I tried to bring about what was happening in the Sudanese government in casual conversations with other people, no one knew what I was talking about until everyone started changing their avi’s to blue for Sudan.

Sometimes people only become aware of things when they start to trend on social media. I see that a lot. I am also happy to exist during a time where a simple hashtag can change millions of lives. For example, because of the social media awareness, people were able to raise funds for Sudan and send it to the country. These funds helped to provide food, shelter, and medical assistance to those in need. I mainly learned about this topic from my Sudanese friends and social media. Whenever I saw Sudan trending on twitter, I would click on it to learn more information. However, they were not many articles about the uprising so I struggled to inform myself on the topic until the hashtags. When Sudanese celebrities began speaking about the revolution, I also began to learn more about the topic.

I find it so interesting that social media can really save lives. I also find it interesting that governments recognize the power of social media. This is the only reason the internet was shut down in Sudan in the first place.