Social media in today’s age is being used as an effective medium for social and political change. The revolt in Egypt is a perfect example to depict the use of social media in bringing about a major change. The Arab springs started in December 2010, to oust the undemocratic president Hosni Mubarak and bring freedom of opportunities and political participation through a democratic government. During the Egyptian revolution, social media was being used to mobilize the people by organizing and implementing social and political movements over the social networking sites. This act of using the social media, via the Internet to create awareness locally as well on a global scale, by taking measures in bringing about changes through organizing public protest is “cyberactivism.” This makes me wonder who are the activist and what makes you become one?
In my personal opinion in today’s age I would like to define activist as anyone who is a member of social media. They could be acting on a cause by posting a status, or tweeting about the issue or even just sharing information regarding that topic which might or might not affect him. My reason for calling anyone on social media an activist is because they are creating awareness about a current issue and mobilizing people who might be concerned with it to take steps towards implementing changes. In the case of the Arab Springs, it was not just the main leaders who were termed activists but for me everyone who was creating awareness through social networking sites like twitter or Facebook and was involved on the groups pertaining to the revolution were all activists. Cyber activism has altered the meaning of activism it no longer just limited to the act of protesting for a cause, by holding a board and marching on the street, rather it can be done just by changing ones status or creating a group and collecting members who are affected by that issue and are making a difference by using the medium of social media.
In the article Social media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering resource Mobilization Theory, they have mainly highlighted the importance of social media in the Arab Springs. It showed that Facebook, twitter and cellular services were a fast and interactive medium, which gave people a sense of community and collective identity to fight towards a common cause by large-scale mobilization and awareness. Also, the social media sites were used as an important medium to draw local and global attention to activities that otherwise might have been overlooked.
In my personal opinion in today’s age I would like to define activist as anyone who is a member of social media. They could be acting on a cause by posting a status, or tweeting about the issue or even just sharing information regarding that topic which might or might not affect him. My reason for calling anyone on social media an activist is because they are creating awareness about a current issue and mobilizing people who might be concerned with it to take steps towards implementing changes. In the case of the Arab Springs, it was not just the main leaders who were termed activists but for me everyone who was creating awareness through social networking sites like twitter or Facebook and was involved on the groups pertaining to the revolution were all activists. Cyber activism has altered the meaning of activism it no longer just limited to the act of protesting for a cause, by holding a board and marching on the street, rather it can be done just by changing ones status or creating a group and collecting members who are affected by that issue and are making a difference by using the medium of social media.
In the article Social media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering resource Mobilization Theory, they have mainly highlighted the importance of social media in the Arab Springs. It showed that Facebook, twitter and cellular services were a fast and interactive medium, which gave people a sense of community and collective identity to fight towards a common cause by large-scale mobilization and awareness. Also, the social media sites were used as an important medium to draw local and global attention to activities that otherwise might have been overlooked.