2. The advent of social media has played no
major role in facilitating political activism.
Activity: In groups, argue for (The Skeptics
Argument) or against (The Believers
Argument) this statement
Tweet your responses to #MDIA5003 and
begin your tweet with for or against
3. A group of Internet-based
applications that build on the
ideological and technological
foundations of Web 2.0
Includes: collaborative
projects, virtual
worlds, blogs, content communities and social networking
Depends on access to the internet
High access in the West and low access in the developing
word
Mobile social media has increased access
4. OECD specifies 3 criteria for a
classification of “user generated”:
1. It should be available on a
publically accessible site
2. It entails a minimum amount of
creative effort
3. It is “created outside of
professional routines and practices”
5. Real social change is brought
about by high-risk meaningful
activism
Social media connections promote low-risk
activism or “slacktivism”
Social media create loose, leaderless networks
that are incapable of organising revolutions
6. Social media creates
quicker and louder
conversations but they
are shallow, short, and
easily displaced
Vast volumes of information
through social media and
24/7 news cycles creates shorter attention spans
Important news is quickly supplanted by new developments
elsewhere
7. Social media is the
catalyst for significant
political change
It plays a role in
coordinating protests
It has revolutionised the way people form
political opinions
8. Access to information
Expands access to human rights abuse
Penetrates the veil of secrecy thrown up by repressive
regimes
Reporting is no longer confined to traditional sources
Conversation and debate
Social media as a mass facilitator of conversation
9. Egypt shut down its internet for 5 days, disrupting social media
communication
This mobilised people to “find creative ways to organise and
communicate”
Facebook pages acted as an initial platform for calls to protest
and were a factor in mobilising movements
Social media played a central role in shaping political
conversations inside and outside the Arab region in early 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZwNb11n9zk
10. “The Skeptics” Argument
◦ Gladwell asserts that social movements require organised
hierarchies, not loose social networks, yet the Arab protest
lacks a hierarchy
“The Believers” Argument
◦ Social media fulfilled the functions in Shirky’s two steps by
providing information and facilitating conversation about
political matters
◦ http://www.facebook.com/pages/TIDBT-The-Arab-
Spring/305321099540513?ref=ts
11. Social media can spread good ideas just as easily
as it can spread bad ideas
◦ Facilitate pro-democracy activism - facilitate oppression
◦ Support pro-democracy forces - push pro-government
propaganda
◦ Communicate reliable information - communication
misinformation
Social media platforms are neutral tools
12. Twitter executives are openly proud of the role
their tools have played in the Arab Spring
YouTube has expressed a similar opinion to
Twitter
Facebook’s strict policy against fake identifies
and pseudonyms led to the removal of content
related to the Arab Spring
13. The value of social media sites to political change is
the extent to which the site is censored
Twitter claims that it avoid censorship as much as
possible
Facebook states that its users cannot post content
that is hateful, threatening, incites violence or that is
unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory
YouTube specifies that videos should not show
graphic or gratuitous violence or hate speech
14. The major social media companies exercise a
power over politics that does not equal their
expertise or responsibility
They have largely been passive facilitators of
revolution
They will “do the right thing” to the extent that
such activism does not conflict with their
commercial goals
15. The advent of social media has played no major role
in facilitating political activism.
Activity: In groups, argue for (The Skeptics Argument)
or against (The Believers Argument) this statement
Tweet your responses to #MDIA5003 and begin your
tweet with for or against
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67325/malco
lm-gladwell-and-clay-shirky/from-innovation-to-
revolution#
