Arab Spring

I feel that social media encouraged the Arab Spring. If there had been no social media with the ability to spread the injustices that it probably would not have gotten such coverage. Yet the people in the countries would still be facing the issues, just without international attention. If there had not been cell phones there that day when Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire to protest the government corruption, would people outside the country even be aware? I think the problem and probably the protesting would be there regardless of the social media, it’s just that social media is a great tool to spread the news faster.

 Social Media can spread information at lightning speed. Information is power. Different groups of people are fighting for the power, so it makes sense that both groups try to use social media to convey their information to the rest of the world. In this case, similar to Egypt, protesters used real time video to show the cruelty of the regimes in power. Both the government and the rebel groups use social media tools to spread their propaganda.  

I personally have never used to social media to organize a group but I could see where it would be useful. Using Facebook to promote and encourage participation in a fundraiser or nonprofit organization is a great example. Social media, for the most part now, is free so using it to spread information can lead to great outcomes. People are now able to know or at least be aware of many things they otherwise would not have found out about.