The Revolution will not be televised

 

It will be tweeted.

Last Tuesday was the first day of Social Media and Social Change with Nathan Singer.  I prepared for class with this book.

A book of tweets. Someone in class asked me to read some of the tweets. She was obviously unfamiliar with Twitter. No one who knows what Twitter is would want a book of tweets read aloud. 

The editors recommend reading this book as a Twitter user reads tweets, skimming to those tweets the user finds relevant or catches the eye. Sections are broken up in themes such as, The Spark, Anticipation, and The Revolution Deepens, with short summaries by the editors. This new method of recording a historical narrative (all histories are narratives) maybe a better way to capture a people’s history rather than a white-washed establishment version.

A study of the role of social media in the Arab Spring by The Project on Information Technology and Political Islam at the University of Washington's Department of Communication concluded that,

“ 1) Social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the Arab Spring.

2) A spike in online media revolutionary conversations often preceded major events on    the ground.

3) Social media helped spread democratic ideas across international borders.”

 (Can't wait to see how this data is used to suppress resistance movements in the near future!) 

But it was the following piece of data that sparked my interest.

 “Over the course of a week before Mubarak’s resignation, the total rate of tweets from Egypt—and around the world—about political change in that country ballooned from 2,300 a day to 230,000 a day.”

The Internet has personalized globalization. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow people to connect instantly around the globe. But only the privileged have the means to be connected at all times. Still the relatively small number of people with constant access to the Internet creates an atmosphere in which the alienated can feel connected not only with her fellow countrymen but also with the world. 

The American government has installed dictators and supported authoritarian regimes for their own benefit. Thankfully Social Media allowed for the People of the Arab and Western world to experience solidarity. Person to Person. Facebook to Facebook. 140 characters at a time.