Khondker uses the term 'cyber-civil society' in his work. I think this is one of the most significant notes on the arab spring where social media was a factor. In class we continually attribute protests and rallying and uprising to effective civil societies. Not only did social media serve as a means to spread information, but as an organizational tool. The grass-roots efforts of mobilizing people, giving structure and focus to an increasing amount of citizens is the difficult but necessary jobs of such organizations. But, in most cases, civil societies are limited by how many people they can reach. However, if the internet is accessible in a region the expanse of who can be told of such a movement or force is infinite.
Tunisia is a good example of this. When only 28,000 citizens had a Facebook in 2008, protests movements died out. Yet in 2011, with 2 million people on Facebook, the Tunisian protests were much more effective and lasting. I believe that this, if nothing else, is a convincing argument that the arab spring would not be what it was without social media. Whether they would have happened or not without it can't be said for sure, but I am confident that they would not have reached the extent they did without sites like twitter and Facebook.
Egypt is another good example as to why social media played such an important role. When Khaled Said was (ironically) dragged out of a cyber-cafe and beaten to death, the pictures of him afterwards was what inspired people to take a stance. 35,000 people were organized together on a Facebook page, making them more than just lucky protestors but intelligent and focused citizens united for a cause.
While I do believe it possible that uprisings may have happened regardless of social media, the internet expedited the process and almost certainly improved the organization of people and made the protests more effective.
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