I am very refreshed by these comments. I left Egypt yesterday (after staying in the south, away from the protests) but I can say that the government shut down of Internet services was effective and thorough. Though it is clear social media played a role in initiating the demonstrations, it did not sustain or organize the demonstrators once access was disrupted--which is when the demonstrations became the largest and more violent. I left feeling that social media were clearly not driving this social change, at least from an outside perspective formed with the opinions of those Egyptians I spoke with. Though my experience was certainly not social scientific, the still-important roles of traditional media and interpersonal communication seemed to be highlighted more than other cases elsewhere but that is definitely not coming through in press reports. Jacob -- Dr. Jacob Groshek Assistant Professor Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, the Netherlands (+31)-010-408-8627 office (+31)-062-304-2346 mobile groshek@eshcc.eur.nl http://www.jgroshek.com On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 4:33 PM, elham gheytanchi <elhamucla@hotmail.com> wrote:
I agree. just wanted to point out the importance of "oral tradition" in Middle Eastern countries. Although majority are literate (can read blogs and social media text-based messages), audio and visual media are far better received.
Best, elham gheytanchi
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:06:19 -0500 From: jeremy@tmttlt.com To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] ISOC Statement on Egypt’s Internet shutdown
I think social media has very little to do with this event. From my perspective, it looks very much like 1960s-70s organizational patterns. Television, radio, etc. has some to do with it though. I will say that it is likely that social media is being used to connect interested transnational elites to some extent, which also then drives media attention.
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 10:01 AM, Richard Forno <rforno@infowarrior.org> wrote:
I may end up being labelled a black sheep here, but I find the US media's infatuation with social media in regard to the Middle East protests to be overdone and a distraction for folks in understanding the real issues involved in the Arab world..
In terms of SM, people have been organising and protesting in large numbers all around the world long before the Internet or social media came into being --- but watching much of the US "news" coverage one is led to think the Internet is the primary force behind the coordination and street-level control of these recent gatherings.
IMHO social media is playing a supporting role in all of this. Is it helpful? Sure - but hardly essential. To wit: the Egyptian gov cut off many modes of communication helpful for social media applications, but did it adversely impact the protests? Nope. What does that tell us?
My view is that SM is very helpful 'strategically" in terms of offering a long-term opportunity for folks to communicate/collaborate/organise along shared views/goals/purposes -- but less so in terms of "hitting the streets" so to speak. Helpful, sure -- but not absolutely necessary.
I'll defer to those who specialise in this stuff to offer more theoreticaly rooted comments, for I need more caffeine.
-- rick
On Jan 31, 2011, at 09:35 , Aziz Douai wrote:
Dear AoIR scholars,
I have been watching the contribution of social media to the street protests in Tunisia, Egypt, and other parts of the Middle East.
My question: What sort of theories would best explain social media's role in the contagion-like spread of these popular movements?
Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Aziz
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-- Dr. Jacob Groshek Assistant Professor Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, the Netherlands (+31)-010-408-8627 office (+31)-062-304-2346 mobile groshek@eshcc.eur.nl http://www.jgroshek.com