When new media technologies and the universal desire to live free from any repressive rule combine, revolutions happen. And it is thanks to these aforementioned technologies that such changes can take place in a relatively short period of time, as compared to the more traditional conventions of organized collective rebellion.
The article ‘Social media, cellphone video fuel Arab protests’ (Independent, 27 February 2011) focuses on technologies such as YouTube, Facebook, and cellphone cameras assisting the Middle Eastern populace in their fight for democracy.
YouTube has assisted the Arabs in their struggle for freedom by showcasing to the world the gritty reality, through amateur recordings of the raw and sometimes harsh action that takes place on the streets, while social networking sites become a tool for uniting people who share the same cause in propagating the word against oppression. The internet, when used in this manner, provides a medium for a large radius of communication which consequently gives an opportunity for every voice to be heard (Edgerly et. al, n.d, p. 3).
New media are seen as the freer alternative compared to old media (such as newspapers) which at times may restrict free speech.
(Source: www.worldpolicy.org)
New media has been highly instrumental in assisting the Arab youths in their cause, so much so that this wave of young defiant individuals has been called the Facebook Generation (Ghosh, 2011, p. 22). This is in part due to major constituents of new media (namely the internet) being interactive, multimodal, and non-territorial among other traits (Min, 2010, p. 25). These traits then allow the internet to reinforce the pursuit of a certain cause, and facilitate public expression and free speech without any restriction and discrimination.
Therefore, while new media enable a more flexible context for the discourse of democracy, a degree of awareness and literacy on the users’ part must be practiced so that the full potential of new media may become realized.
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References:
Edgerly, S. et. al, n.d, Youtube as a Public Sphere: The Proposition 8 Debate, presented at the Association of Internet Researchers conference, viewed 12 June 2011, < https://www.msu.edu/~jmonberg/415/Schedule_files/Edgerly_et_al_YouTube_Public_Sphere.pdf>.
Ghosh, B. 2011, ‘Rage, rap and revolution’, Time, 28 February, pp. 20 – 25.
Min, S. J. 2010, ‘From the digital divide to the democratic divide: Internet skills, political interest, and the second-level digital divide in political internet use’, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, no.7, pp. 22-35, viewed 27 April 2011, <http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.taylors.edu.my/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=75d6bbb0-a96a-4287-a311-8d97cf3b379d%40sessionmgr15&vid=1&hid=7>.
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