Tom Harvey

Educator, Social Scientist, Historian, Lifelong Learner and Hobbit

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Social media didn’t play a significant role in the Arab Spring because only 5% of the Egyptian population used Facebook and 1% used Twitter. These numbers show that social media didn’t play a significant role in the Arab Spring.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Have asked my Year 11 Modern History class to respond to a question about the role of social media in the Arab Spring, responding only in a tweet. Best examples, judged by me, to be posted. This could be good or really bad.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Although SM was used as a tool during the AS, did not play a sign. role fuelling the uprising. Media platforms being monitored and infiltrated by the govt, there was limited collective action and inhibited political activism. Social media rarely directs social movements.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

The use of social media was limited in spreading riots in Arab Springs. Due to State controlled media and inactivity on socials hindered their ability to use for protest. Street networks weren't state controlled giving activists a playground to spread their cause significantly.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

SM did not have an impact on the Egyptn Rev. There was no correlation between social media and uprisings, and the revolution was caused by hardship, grievances, admiration of the Tunisian revolution and lack of unfiltered media, not social media.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

The manipulation social media during Egyptian Uprising was set up! Backlashing users, with governments infiltrating movements and spreading propaganda, limiting mutual agreeance.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

To a minimal extent social media played a significant role in the Arab Spring. This is because > 5% of Egypt’s population used Facebook and >1% used twitter. Instead gradual undermining of the state news allowed people to receive information undetected by the Mubarak government.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

The Egypt Rev. in 2011 was in the streets, not the tweets. Occurred through word of mouth, sm played a role, not as significant as companies want you to think. The govt could use SM to monitor rebels. SM undermined the state media as journalists had the freedom to post anything.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Although sm played a role in the AS, the influence of tech on the movement is exaggerated. Western news outlets referred to the issue as the “Twitter Revolution”, it has been argued that social media allowed for a false sense of participation and government censored information.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Social media did minimal for the Egyptian Uprising of 2011. It was probs controlled by the state and had no followers 💀 the protests were spread through the streets or personal experiences. It limited collective action anyway and was only really used to spread information.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

The real uprising was sparked behind the scenes by community whispers and shared hardship. “Twitter revolution” is just Media companies in 2011 capitalising off of Arab oppression. SM’s helped organise protests, but governments can easily censor speech and spread misinformation.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

To an extent, social media did play a significant role in the Arab Spring. However, street networks arguably played a much more vital role with most people not using social media and instead getting information from various community groups; and rallying together in person.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Contrary to popular belief, there was only a narrow link between social media use and unrest. Although it’s seamless in theory, the public realised that governments could use social media to infiltrate protests. So many heard news via word of mouth from the community.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Social media had somewhat of an impact during the A.S. - it was not the most significant method of information sharing, it provided Egyptns with a place to raise awareness but had little effect bringing people together to protest compared to other methods of real time sharing

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

While allowing information to spread rapidly of the Arab Spring Protests, social media had a minimal impact on the Egyptian revolution due to the small percentage
of people using it and the impact of government monitoring and infiltration of social media.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Social media platforms provided outlets besides controlled media to spread information. The lack of Egyptian users ensured its ineffectiveness in organising rallies rather, helping the government to track them. Street networks, were more effective they were considered credible.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

While social media organised protests during the Arab Spring, it gained more significance in hindsight because of companies using the Arab Spring to boost their importance. At the time, many Egyptians weren’t on social media and had more personal reasons for protesting.

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

@justsay62620188 @BenHopkinsAus Know what?

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

@Peter_Fitz

[Tom Harvey @teachulearn]

Reading #SusanScott's 'Fierce Conversations' at the moment and caught up on the idea that "conversation = relationship". Determined to make the most of every conversation. #fierceconversations