Could this article be more perfect to our topic? The article
explains Twitter, Facebook and Youtube’s role in the Middle East uprisings
(Arab Spring). In the beginning of the protest, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube
were used to accelerate the protest… and it worked. An interesting quote from
the article is that the “CIA was blindsided about the Egypt uprising because
they failed to follow developments on Twitter.” The fact that Twitter is ahead
of our CIA and that they use social media to track what goes on in the word is
fascinating. These social media sites are used to document what goes on in the
world. Long gone are the days when the government can hide an execution,
assault, bombing, etc. Within minutes acts of violence and other acts are
posted, some even streaming live on these social media sites. The primary concerns
of the author are how far social media is going to go. In such a short amount
of time, social media networks have expanded, and now people and government
agencies rely heavily on them for information. The author’s sources were from
the NY times, first hand accounts from Slate, interviews, and other news
sources. The author is writing from his first hand accounts on the power of
social media and the Arab spring. The general impression given from this
article is that social media is very powerful and heavily relied upon. The most
interesting part of this article was when it talked about the three main ways
social media could be helpful. The three ways are “a) mobilizing protesters rapidly; b) undermining
a regime’s legitimacy; or c) increasing national and international exposure to
a regime’s atrocities.”
The scary thing about this is - can it be stopped? I don't know about Twitter but Facebook and Youtube have policies about the things you can post. Facebook even has a report button. Unless these social media sites put into effect, a ban of videos and (mis)information about what is going on then this will continue. But it isn't possible to see every status update, tweet or video posted so could there ever be a true ban? If there never is a ban then the protesting and riots could increase with the rise in posts and videos.
ReplyDeleteI like the last part of your post about how it can be helpful. To often we think of the bad effects of social media sites. Even with FB and our own lives. It can be a good thing for instance if you are reconnecting with someone. In the case we are talking about, I specifically like #3.