Facebook versus State Control The Role of Social Media as Political Infrastructure in Egypt: An Assessment | ||||
| المجلة العربية لبحوث الاعلام والاتصال | ||||
| Article 10, Volume 2013, Issue 3, December 2013, Page 2-11 PDF (685.95 K) | ||||
| Document Type: بحوث علمیة متخصصة فی مجال الاعلام والاتصال. | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jkom.2013.110789 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| Hamza Saad | ||||
| Assistant Professor of Public Relations University of Sharjah, UAE & El- Minia, University, Egypt) | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study investigated that Egypt throughout its history, has cast its media in central roles in the political system as mobilizing forces and as instruments of the government. It showed that all the time there are many political restrictions and limitations of the freedom of expression in Egypt. However, the Egyptian political bloggers have brought attention to issues of public interest that the traditional media have long ignored. Within the Egyptian context, bloggers have set the agenda on other important issues ignored by mainstream news media, and have helped to uncover silent truth not covered by the state media. They have also provided platforms for the Egyptian people to speak out on political matters and have their voices heard. The study assured that the beginning of the Egyptian revolution was catalyzed through online social media before the physical activism commenced on January 25, 2011. Through blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media has allowed citizens to engage in a public sphere that would have otherwise been unreachable to them due to harsh domination. As a result, the revolution moved from the virtual world to the real world. And after having lived under an oppressive regime for thirty years, the people themselves in an 18-day peaceful revolution, forced Mubarak to resign. It confirmed that The increasingly widespread use of the internet and the rise in social media, despite the frequent attempts by the SCAF to disrupt their progress and shut down those websites that provide a platform for dissent and criticism, are adding greater impetus to the forces for change. Finally, social networking alone cannot be expected to bring direct political change. It's the long-term impact, the development of new political and civil society engagement, and individual and institutional competencies on which analysts are focusing. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Facebook; social media; Egypt; politics | ||||
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