It is impossible to ignore to the importance of social media. It allows people to speak their minds on a platform that can potentially reach millions of like minded others. This allows certain movements to spread like wildfire and go ‘viral’. But how much of an impact does sending a tweet actually have?
#Euromaiden, #Syria and #Egypt are all great examples of how many people social media can reach. #Egypt used all forms of social media to rally everyone behind the cause. A YouTube video (see above) from an Egyptian vlogger Asmaa Mahfouz goes viral and informs the world, FaceBook groups and events are used to organise protests and twitter is used to instantly update the world on what is happening. The movement a success with millions of protesters flooding the streets and President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. But the protest was not without casualties as 12000 people were arrested, 6000 injured and at least 800 killed.
The events in Egypt were heavily inspired by the Tunisian Revolution in which protest organised on social media resulted in the democratization of the country and to free and democratic elections. These ‘social media’ revolutions have caused people across the world to stand up for what they believe in most recently 2014 Hong Kong protests, also referred to as the Umbrella Revolution and #2014 Hong Kong protests, also referred to as the Umbrella Revolution and #Ferguson.
The change brought by these protests has shown how much of an impact social media can have on the world and that sending a tweet, making a YouTube video or creating a FaceBook group can bring about a revolution.
Brendan Vs The World 
Nice post.
An important point that could be drawn from your article is that social media is not necessarily just a means of slacktivism, real activism and action can be made and communicated through the internet.
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You are right! it IS impossible to ignore the importance of social media.
The events like you’ve mentioned such as the Tunisian revolution which went viral, were all only possible due to social media and the internet, without these means of communications people have no voice. Governments in certain countries are trying to crack down on the use of social media as a form of banding together with organisation to protest and counteract anything that the government do which is not agreeable to the public. As seen in the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, it has sparked a domino effect, everyone has seen the effect of protesting on twitter and Facebook and know that it does work.
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Hey Brendan, a positive post on the importance of social media. These movements such as the Euromaidan has given way to people taking an action and making use of the ever-growing internet. The video you provided of Asmaa Mahfouz’s ‘vlog’ is just testament to the power of citizen journalism and how it can lead to successful social movements that are not only civil, but organized. Overall a good post with helpful data provided.
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Hi Brendan, this is a great post that does well to explore the topic. The fact that you use one of these social tools (being the vlog) as part of your article really reinforces the effective power of citizen journalism and the power of social media. You’ve hit the nail on the head this week, a very effective post.
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You have summed up perfectly the power of social media. It was interesting to see the video that sparked the protests in Egypt. You have also mentioned the Umbrella Revolution and Ferguson which are also great examples and reiterates your argument of the recurring power of social media.
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