عنوان

Arab 2.0 Revolutions: Investigating Social Media Networks during waves of the Egyptian political uprisings that occur between 2011, 2012 and 2013

TL49554

انگلیسی

Arab 2.0 Revolutions: Investigating Social Media Networks during waves of the Egyptian political uprisings that occur between 2011, 2012 and 2013

[Thesis]

Ahmad M. Shehabat

University of Western Sydney (Australia)

2015

147

Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=9781073960729

M.A.

University of Western Sydney (Australia)

2015

Social media networks were at the centre of the dramatic events in 2011 events widely referred to as 'the Arab Spring' uprising or revolution. This thesis investigates the role of social media networks (such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) in facilitating political mobilisation and the creation of a new Arab public sphere. The thesis asks whether the Arab Spring revolutions would have even happened in the absence of social media networks. The analysis will focus specifically on Egypt and how these networks acted as a catalyst and tool for mobilisation and how they shifted the balance of power between civilian activists and the authoritarian regime in the uprisings that occurred in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The primary research data reveals that social media networks have gone through four distinct phases: outrage and hope, instability and distrust, disinformation and criticism, and antagonism and hate. As these phases have been enacted during the three waves of social unrest in Egypt, networks have become a key player in generating and shifting power. This thesis draws on network theories of communication such as 'the strength of weak ties' (Granovetter 1973) and 'communication power' (Castells 2009). Castells proposes that social networks can be sites of 'outrage and hope' (2012) but in this thesis I argue that social media has developed into 'networks of antagonism and hate'. This argument is made after an empirical analysis of the Facebook data sets of the liberals and Islamists which shows they have become sites of clashing ideologies. This thesis will also highlight the role other media played in the uprisings, such as Arab satellite channels such as Aljazeera, Hacktivists groups such as Anonymous and Telecomix and the whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks. The primary analysis of Facebook data sets identifies complex power dynamic between Islamists and liberals, who have both played dominant roles in the battle over information dissemination in their attempts to control society.

Middle Eastern Studies; Mass communications

(UMI)AAI10310316;Social sciences;Communication and the arts

Zekraoui, Lotfi

University of Western Sydney (Australia)

1950213304; 10310316

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y