The Arab Spring was one of the biggest events in almost a
decade where several countries in the Middle East and North Africa revolted
against their leaders who were dictators. The protests and riots spread through
the whole region like wildfire. According to a New York Times article,
geography shrunk by the use of social networking[1].
Facebook and Twitter allowed communication between an Egyptian street vendor
who lives in the north and a rich businessman who lives in the south. These
people had the same idea and distance didn’t matter because they could organize
whatever they want in a matter of seconds. It all started in Tunisia where a
street vendor, so passionate about the whole issue, set himself on fire to let
the people know[2].
Then, the next thing you know is that other countries in the region realized
that they were ruled by dictators for the past years and they start using
social media to organize protests.
The use of social media during the Arab Spring was the main
reason why people were able to organize protest and gather at public places. It
made it possible for them to communicate and organize without the government
knowing. For people who sought democracy, social media was a major benefit. It
enabled people, mainly youth, using social media like Twitter and Facebook to
follow what’s happening and to know about the secrets of the parties leading
the protests. Also, it enabled individuals in the same country to know that
they were not the only victims of the dictatorial regimes that didn’t give them
any sort of voice or representation[3]. On
the other hand, social media was the worst nightmare of the dictators because
it led to their exiles or, for some of them, their deaths. Social media had the
power, and still does, to shape a country’s future in the sense that it can
give people ways to organize huge events that can both be harmful or fruitful.
The aftermath for most of the countries involved in the Arab
Spring was not living happily ever after, but rather economic problems.
According to The National, the UN thinks that the protests caused unemployment
rates and poverty to rise. Also, according to the same article, the IMF
(International Monetary Fund) thinks that “North Africa's non-oil producers have been hit by reduced trade and investment
flows and an exodus of migrants from Libya[4].”
These problems, however, were necessary in order to end dictatorial regimes
that existed for decades because in order to gain, one must feel pain first.
Finally, I think that the
governments in these regions tried to monitor what the citizens were doing, but
they were not successful. They didn’t do it to keep the country stable. They
did it to keep power for themselves. Other countries in the region were so
paranoid about the “wildfire” and they blocked social media websites. Also, one
more thing, the Arab Spring caused more people to start using the internet and
follow what’s happening in the world and in their country. This makes the
people more aware of their country and it allows them to view the world through
a lens other than their state television[5].
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