What is the impact of the internet and social media on politics?

By A Student & B Student

Introduction

This research project will assess impact of the internet and social media on politics and for people who want to change the political system.The research will focus on how political groups have used the internet and social networks to mobilise opposition to governments around the world.The research will use Egypt as examples of how social media has helped organise protests and gain international support for their cause. The internet and Facebook were critical in overthrowing the government of Egypt and changing their society.

Egypt

Egypt provides an excellent example of social media being used by opposition groups to remove a corrupt government. With social media’s help, large groups of protesters were able to get organised and take to the streets. The large number of protesters forced the government to resign.

Egypt The protests were inspired by the uprising in Tunisia.Utube video inspired people in Egypt to change theirPolitical system.Before the protests, the government undertook economic reform and spent money on communications and physical infrastructure. This did not help the poor, who struggled with rising prices for food and basic needs

Egyptian opposition groups used Facebook to organise demonstrations and labour strikes. President Mubarak's was forced to resign. Egypt's military took control until a new parliament was elected in place in early 2012. Mohammed Mursi won the presidential election and a new constitution was put in place. In July 2013, the military overthrew Mursi and he was replaced by interim president Mansour. The protests continue.

Egyptian RevolutionKey Points

Social Media used to get thousand of protesters out on the streets of Cairo

Social Media was used to show the world how a peaceful protest could change a government

Internet was used by news organisations to report on the uprisingand spread the protests throughoutthe whole Arab world

Protests became known as the Arab Spring. Many corrupt governments were forced out of power

The protests started with the death of one man in Tunisia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zNsdbNZ-_c

Role of social mediahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=exQOBoMwRGE

Social media played a very important role in the protests in Egypt. The government tried to shut the internet down but people found other ways to communicate using cell phones.

Facebook was the most important method used in getting protesters out onto the streets of Cairo. The protesters used Facebook to evade the police and getting arrested. The support from overseas followers also was an important factor in getting the President to resign.

Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for Google said in an interview with CNN “This revolution started online. This revolution started on Facebook. This revolution started in June 2010 when hundreds of thousands of Egyptians started collaborating content. We would post a video on Facebook that would be shared by 60,000 people on their walls within a few hours. I've always said that if you want to liberate a society just give them the Internet.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/egypt-facebook-revolution-wael-ghonim_n_822078.html)

Twitter was also extremely important in communicating and getting protesters organised. Unfortunately the protest did not stop and chaos followed! Groups who disagreed with each other ended up fighting and using social media against other groups. All the good was undone and Egypt is now under military rule and the conflict continues.

Surjit's Blog!! Tuesday, February 15, 2011Egyptian Revolution which made westerners worry of a new beginning!!Accolades, Wishes, Congratulatory messages are pouring from all over the world till now for the people of Egypt for their uprising and removing the Dictator Hosni Mubarak from a 30 year regime.

Saw ur new blog. .And appreciate ur efforts.. But y shud we be sooo biased & pre-judgemental during our writings? Arab world's history is filled with dictatorship my dear frnd & each uprising brings a nother form of dictatorship. Yes u can escape by putting blame on westerners. But its ur responsibilty to keep ur house in order. You talk about Iranian revolution.. What did it bring?. A new form of dictatorship... not a democracy. Now for god sake ,don't call it a democratic govt...

ConclusionThe use of Facebook and other social media sites was vital in the opposition’s attempt to overthrow the corrupt government in Egypt. The government recognised the impact of social media and shut down internet access in the country. The protesters used cell phones to beat the shutdown. The government quickly gave up. Although the social media sites helped change the government, they also contributed to the chaos that followed as groups broke into factions and started fighting each other. Eventually the army stepped in, enforcing martial law and overthrowing the democratically elected government. The chaos and killings continue.

Evaluation• Finding resources was really easy for this research exercise,

with the internet providing video, blogs, quotes and pictures.• The amount of time available and the format limited what

could be included.• It was easy to find different perspectives but difficult to fit

them into the PPT format• The original plan was to look at Egypt, Syria and the Ukraine,

but there was not enough time and PPT is not good for detailed research

• To make this better, more time and details could be used. • Having a partner peer review my work was a benefit.

Bibliography• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zNsdbNZ-_c• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=exQOBoMwRGE• http://ciafactbook.com• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/egypt-facebook-revolution

-wael-ghonim_n_822078.html• www.google.co.nz• www.wikipedia.com