Social media : Instigating factor or appropriated tool? Assessing the level of agency ascribed to the use of social media for the organization and coordination of the 25th January Revolution in Egypt
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2013-06-27
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en
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Abstract
This research addresses the perceived importance of the use of
social media for the organization of the 25th of January, 2011,
revolution in Egypt. Individual face-to-face semi-structured
interviews and face-to-face collected written surveys were the main
research methods used to acquire the research data.
This research shows that there is a relationship between the use of
social media and the way in which the revolution has unfolded in
Egypt. Social media is perceived to have made the revolutionary
process unfold in a faster pace and the initial organization and
coordination trough the social media platforms have made the
revolution a leaderless revolution.
Social media played a significant role but it should not be seen as
an instigating factor, however. The role that the social media
platforms played, must be seen in a wider framework of
interdependent processes and factors that are also perceived as
important to the unfolding of the revolutionary process by the
Egyptian people.
Significant differences have been found between different population
groups in how important they perceive the use of social media for
the organization of the revolution. Egyptians with an university
degree, who have an internet connection at home and who have a
Facebook account, find the use of social media significantly more
important for the organization of the revolution in Egypt than
others.
The people using social media perceive the use of social media as
more important because they were more aware of how the use of these
platforms contributed to the revolution. In addition, those people
who didn't use social media often perceive the use of social media
as less important because they didn't need the platforms to
communicate and organize.
The agency of the revolution lies with the Egyptian people, who
transformed the social media platforms, that are designed for
slacktivistic activities, into a tool used by the activists for
political purposes.
The news organizations represented the revolution in Egypt as a
‘Facebook revolution’ because these organizations often retrieved
their own information from social media, because it was catchy,
because it was an easy story to transfer to the audience and because
it overshadows the Western historical role in supporting the
oppressive regime.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen