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Social media as a tool for social movements in Arab spring countries

Published: 27 October 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Many had claimed that social movements in Arab Spring countries, were sparked and organized by social media. But few who had gave a scientific explanation of the role of social media on modern social movements.
This paper address the role of social media in 2011 Egyptian revolution. And illustrate if Social media provided space and tools for the formation and the expansion of social networks that the authoritarian government could not easily control.

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Cited By

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  • (2017)Drawing the Lines of ContentionProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/31349201:CSCW(1-23)Online publication date: 6-Dec-2017

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  1. Social media as a tool for social movements in Arab spring countries

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    Brad D. Reid

    In approximately three fact-packed pages, the author discusses the impact of social media on the Arab Spring. This is a quick and very informative read for anyone interested in the reciprocal relationship between social media and social and political movements. The paper begins with some background of 21st-century social movements. Today, knowledge is rapidly spread without charismatic leaders. Policy networks, the circulation of dramatic stories, and expanding spheres of participation are all possible. The contrarian view, also noted, is that the revolutions would have happened without social media, and the Internet may be used to manipulate individuals and subvert democracy. Far from being a neutral tool, social media influences the form and shape of social movements. Large numbers of youthful social media users in disconnected groups are united. Social media clearly influences social change, but is not the only driver of it. The unfolding future of the Egyptian revolution will continue to refine the role and function of modern social media. With numerous references, this study is doubtless among the best short presentations of social media as a tool in the Arab Spring. Online Computing Reviews Service

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    Published In

    cover image ACM Other conferences
    ICEGOV '14: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance
    October 2014
    563 pages
    ISBN:9781605586113
    DOI:10.1145/2691195
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

    Sponsors

    • Macao Foundation, Macao SAR Govt: Macao Foundation, Macao SAR Government
    • Municipio de Guimarães: Municipio de Guimarães

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 27 October 2014

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    Author Tags

    1. Arab spring
    2. Egypt
    3. governance
    4. network
    5. policy network
    6. social media
    7. social movement
    8. turbulence

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    ICEGOV2014
    Sponsor:
    • Macao Foundation, Macao SAR Govt
    • Municipio de Guimarães

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    ICEGOV '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 30 of 73 submissions, 41%;
    Overall Acceptance Rate 350 of 865 submissions, 40%

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)More than Foodsaving Machines: Insights from Communities Fighting Food Waste in the Digital AgeInteracting with Computers10.1093/iwc/iwae043Online publication date: 2-Oct-2024
    • (2018)Studying the Impression of Saudi People towards Current Social ChangesCompanion of the 2018 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing10.1145/3272973.3274090(333-336)Online publication date: 30-Oct-2018
    • (2017)Drawing the Lines of ContentionProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/31349201:CSCW(1-23)Online publication date: 6-Dec-2017

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