The revolution that… originated in social networks?

Publicado por La5e el 28/03/2011 Tweet

For some days at La 5ª, we’ve been talking about the turmoil occurring in the Arab world. We’ve been wondering whether without Facebook or Twitter it would have had the same impact. On the one hand, there are those in the office who assert that revolutions happen when people are so suffocated they can’t breathe. These countries were a breeding ground, and although networks have helped to spread messages, credit must be given to those who have risked their lives to claim what’s right. Those on this side point out that during the French Revolution, the Revolution of 68, the fall of the Berlin Wall and even the recent and failed Saffron Revolution in Burma the power was the people, not the medium.

There were no text messages in the Bastille; the first people to jump over the Wall did not make arrangements on Twitter; the Burmese monks did not start up a Facebook page called ‘Monks protesting peacefully’. There was desperation, and once the fuse was lit, it was unstoppable, and the people used the media at their disposal at any given time. On the other hand, there are those who believe that under such oppressive regimes, with freedom of press and assembly constantly being watched, nothing would have been possible without the impetus of social networks especially popular among young people.

For co-workers who think like this, these social networks have opened a window to the world (especially the West) and have enabled thousands of people to see that there are people who live freely, and now they are claiming this status.

The fuse would not have been lit so much or so fast. Co-workers with this opinion brandish as proof that if social networks had not been so important in calling upon supporters to concentrate and demonstrate, neither Egypt nor Libya would have cut off Internet access immediately.

They also talk about what seems to be the origin of it all, the April 6 Youth Movement on Facebook and its ability to win over the sympathy of millions of people and keep their attention for so long. We’re divided and we need our readers to help: What is your opinion about the role social networks have played in the popular revolutions in the Arab world?

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