Archive / Volume 5, Issue December 2015 - Special Issue, 2015

Social Media Uses and their Perceived Outcome Satisfaction in the pre-Egyptian Revolt Context

Nermeen Kassem 1 *

More Detail

Full Text (PDF)

Abstract

Many commentators (i.e., Aouragh & Alexander, 2011; Tufekci & Wilson, 2012; Wilson & Dunn, 2011; Wall & Zahed, 2011) have remarked upon the role played by social media in the mobilisation that preceded the eruption of the massive demonstrations which took place in Egypt in early 2011, one of a number in the region that became known as the Arab Spring. This article was designed to address the question: “how do young Egyptian activists perceive the potential of social media for mobilising collective action?” The findings outlined in this article make a unique contribution to contemporary debates about social media and the Egyptian mobilisations, since the data was gathered prior to the uprising of 25th January 2011. Consequently, it provides us with a clear understanding of what Egyptian activists actually thought and said about the potential value of social media, both for the organisation and the mobilisation of protests, rather than as retrospective judgments which may be subject to selective interpretations. This article highlights the perception trends of a sample of young Egyptian activists to whom the credit for igniting the two waves of uprisings (25th January 2011 and 30th June 2013) has been widely attributed. Data from questionnaires followed by focus group discussions indicate that young activists use social media as instruments to achieve their goals in order to inform and influence other non-politicised users’ decisions, rather than being directed at achieving individualistic goals. Several limitations were also highlighted; some of which relate to the constituency, while others are mainly related to the media.

Keywords

social media young activists uses and gratifications (U&G) mobilisation

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 5, Issue December 2015 - Special Issue, pp. 157-187

Published Online: 01 Dec 2015

Article Views: 354

Article Downloads: 163

Open Access References How to Cite This Article

References

  • Aouragh, M., & Alexander, A. (2011). The Egyptian Experience: Sense and Nonsense of the Internet Revolution. International Journal of communication, 5(1), 1344-1358.
  • Baumgartner, J. C., & Morris, J. S. (2010). MyFaceTube Politics: Social Networking Web Sites and Political Engagement of Young Adults. Social Science Computer Review, 28 (1), 24-44.
  • BBC. (2011, January 4). Protests Erupt in Egypt Against Bombing the Saints Church in Alexandria. Retrieved February 2011, from BBC Arabic: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2011/01/110104_church_riots.shtml
  • Bennett, W. L. (2003). Communicating Global Activism: Strengths and Vulnerabilities of Networked Politics. Information, Communication & Society, 6 (2), 143-168.
  • Bennett, W. L. (2005). Social Movements Beyond Borders: Organisation, Communication, and Political Capacity in Two Eras of Transnational Activism. In D. d. Porta, & S. Tarrow, Transnational Protest and Global Activism: People, Passions, and Power (pp. 203-226). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  • Bimber, B. (2001). Information and Political Engagement in America: The Serach for Effect of Information Technology at the Individual Level. Political Research Quarterly, 45 (1), 53-67.
  • boyd, D. (2008). Can Social Network Sites Enable Political Action? In M. S. Allison Fine, Rebooting America (pp. 112-116). Creative Commons.
  • Castells, M. (2010). The Power of Identity: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture Volume II. Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Castells, M. (1997 ). The Power of Identity. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Cheung, C. M., Chiu, P.-Y., & Lee, M. K. (2011). Online Social Networks: Why Do Students Use Facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 27 (4), 1337-1343.
  • Clark, J., & Themudo, N. (2003). The Age of Protest: Internet-based 'Dot Causes' and the 'Anti-Globalization' Movement. In J. Clark, Globalising Civic Engagement. Civil Society and Transnational Action (pp. 109-126). London: Earthscan.
  • Coleman, S., & Blumler, J. G. (2009). The Internet and Democratic Citizenship: Theory, Practice and Policy. Cambridge University Press.
  • Cozma, R., & Ancu, M. (2009). MySpace Politics: Uses and Gratifications of Befriending Candidates. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 53 (4), 567-583.
  • Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organisational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design. Management Science, 32 (5), 554-571.
  • Dahlgren, P. (2009). Media and Political Engagement: Citizens, Communication, Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Dahlgren, P., & Olsson, T. (2009). From Public Sphere to Civic Culture. Young Citizens Internet Use. In I. R. Butsch (Ed.), Media and Public Spheres, 198-209. Basengstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • della Porta, D. (2012). Communication in Movement: Social Moements as Agents of Participatory Democracy. In B. D. Loader, & D. Mercea, Social Media and Democracy : Innovations in Participatory Politics (pp. 39-53). London: Routledge.
  • della Porta, D., & Mosca, L. (2005). Global-Net for Global Movements? A Network of Networks for a Movement of Movements. Della Porta, Donatella, and Lorenzo Mosca. "Global-Net for Global Movements? Journal of Public Policy, 25 (1), 165-190.
  • Diani, M. (2000). Social Movement Networks Virtual and Real. Information, Communication & Society, 3 (3), 386–401.
  • DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Neuman, W. R., & Robinson, J. P. (2001). Social Implications of the Internet. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 307-336.
  • Earl, J., & Schussman, A. (2002). The New Site of Activism: On-Line Organisations, Movement Entrepreneurs, and the Changing Location of Social Movement Decision Making. Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, 24, 155-187.
  • Feezell, J., Conroy, M., & Guerrero, M. (2009). Facebook is... Fostering Political Engagement: A Study of Online Social Networking Groups and Offline Participation. Paper Presented at The American Political Science Association Meeting. Toronto, Canada.
  • Gamson, W. A., & Modigliani, A. (1987). The Changing Culture of Affirmative Action. In R. G. Braungart, & M. M. Braungart, Research in Poilitical Sociology (pp. 137-177). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
  • Garrett, R. K. (2006). Protest in an Information Society: A Review of Literature on Social Movements and New ICTs. Information, Communication & Society, 9 (2), 202–224.
  • Gitlin, T. (2003). The Whole World is Watching: Mass Media in the Making and Unmaking of the New Left. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Hanson, G. L., Haridakis, P. M., & Sharma, R. (2011). Differing uses of YouTube during the 2008 US presidential primary election. Electronic News,5(1), 1-19.
  • Hwang, H., Schmierbach, M., Paek, H.-J., Zuniga, H. G., & Shah, D. (2006). Media Dissociation, Internet Use, and Antiwar Political Participation: A Case Study of Political Dissent and Action Against the War in Iraq. Mass Communication & Society, 9 (4), 461–483.
  • Jenkins, H. (2005). Welcome to Convergence Culture. Receiver, 2.
  • Jenkins, H., & Deuze, M. (2008). Convergence Culture. Convergence: The International of Research into New Media Technologies, 14(1), 5-12.
  • Johnson, T., & Kaye, B. (2010). Choosing is Believing? How Web Gratifications and Reliance Affect Internet Credibility Among Politically Interested Users. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 18(1), 1-21.
  • Kaye, B. K., & Johnson, T. J. (2004). A Web for all Reasons: Uses and Gratifications for Internet Components for Political Information. Telematics and Informatics, 21, 197-223.
  • Kaye, B. K., & Johnson, T. J. (2002). Online and in the Know: Uses and Gratifications of the Web for Political Information. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 46 (1), 54-77.
  • Klandermans, B. (2004). The Demand and Supply of Participation: Social-Psychological Correlates of Participation in Social Movements. In D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule, & H. Kriesi, The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (pp. 360-379). Blackwell Publishing .
  • van Laer, J. (2010). Activists Online and Offline: The Internet as an Information Channel for Protest Demonstrations. Mobilisation: An International Quarterly, 15 (3), 347-366.
  • van Laer, J, & van Aelst, P. (2010). Internet and Social Movement Action Repertoires: Opportunities and Limitations. Information, Communication & Society, 13 (8), 1146-1171.
  • Leung, L. (2009). User-Generated Content on the Internet: An Examination of Gratification, Civic Engagement and Psychological Empowerment. New Media & Society, 1327-1347.
  • Liu, I. L., Cheung, C. M., & Lee, M. K. (2010). Understanding Twitter Usage: What Drive People Continue to Tweet. PACIS, 928-939.
  • Margolis, M., & Resnick, D. (2000). Politics as Usual. The Cyberspace ‘ Revolution’. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
  • Morozov, E. (2012). The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. PublicAffairs, 1-26.
  • Morris, M., & Ogan, C. (1996). The Internet as Mass Medium. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 1 (4).
  • Myers, D. J. (2002). Social Activism Through Computer Networks. In O. V. Burton, Computing in the Social Sciences and Humanities (pp. 124-139). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
  • Norris, P. (2004). The Bridging and Bonding Role of Online Communities. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
  • Page, B. I. (1996). Who Deliberates? Mass Media in Modern Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Papacharissi, Z. (2010). A Private Sphere : Democracy in a Digital Age. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Papacharissi, Z., & Rubin, A. M. (2000). Predictors of Internet Use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44 (2), 775-196.
  • Park, N., Kee, K. F., & Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being Immersed in Social Networking Environment: Facebook Groups, Uses and Gratifications and Social Outcomes. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 12 (6), 729-733.
  • Pini, B., Brown, K., & Previte, J. (2004). Politics and Identity in Cyberspace. In W. v. Donk, B. D. Loader, P. G. Nixon, & D. Rucht, Cyberprotest: New Media, Citizens nd Social Movements (pp. 259-274). London: Routlege.
  • Rucht, D. (2003). Media Strategies and Media Resonance in Transnational Protest Campaigns. Transnational Processes and Social Movements. Bellagio, Italy.
  • Rucht, D. (2004). The Quadruple 'A': Media Strategies of Protest Movements Since the 1960s. In W. van de Donk, B. D. Loader, P. G. Nixon, & D. Rucht, Cyberprotest: New Media, Citizens and Social Movements (pp. 29-56). London: Routledge.
  • Sha'ban, A. B.-d. (2005). Political Mobilisation in the Region: Manifistations, Justifications, Trends, Dimensions and Prospects (in Arabic). Arabic Affairs (123), 13-14.
  • Shah, D. V., Kwak, N., & Holbert, R. L. (2001). “Connecting” and “Disconnecting” With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital. Political Communication, 8 (2), 141-162.
  • Shapiro, S. M. (2009). Revolution, Facebook-Style. The New York Times, 1-9.
  • Smitten, S. I. (2008). Political Potential and Capabilities of Onlie Communities. German Policy Studies, 4 (4), 33-62.
  • Stoeckl, R., Rohrmeie, P., & Hess, T. (2007). Motivations to Produce User Generated Content: Differences Between Webloggers and Videobloggers. 20th Bled eConference: eMergence: Merging and Emerging Technologies, Processes, and Institutions, (pp. 398-413). Bled, Slovenia.
  • Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S. M., Waechter, N., & Espinoza, G. (2008). Online and Offline Social Networks: Use of Social Networking Sites by Emerging Adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29 (6), 420-433.
  • Thelwall, M. (2008). No Place for News in Social Network Web Sites? Online Information Review, 32 (6), 726-744.
  • Tisdall, S. (2011, February 11). Hosni Mubarak: Egyptian 'Pharaoh' Dethroned Amid Gunfire and Blood. Retrieved February 2011, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/11/hosni-mubarak-resigns-analysis.
  • Tsfati, Y. (2003). Media Skepticism and Climate of Opinion Perception. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 15 (1), 65-82.
  • Tsfati, Y., & Cappella, J. N. (2003). Do People Watch What They Do not Trust? Exploring the Association Between News Media Skepticism and Exposure. Communication Research, 30 (5), 504-529.
  • Tufekci, Z., & Wilson, C. (2012). Social media and the decision to participate in political protest: Observations from Tahrir Square. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 363-379.
  • van de Donk, W., Loader, B. D., Nixon, P. G., & Rucht, D. (2004). Cyberprotest: New media, Citizens and Social Movements. London: Routledge.
  • van Zoonen, E. A. (1992). The Women's Movement and the Media: Constructing a Public Identity. European Journal of Communication, 7(4), 453-476.
  • Yuan, E. (2011). News consumption across multiple media platforms: A repertoire approach. Information, Communication & Society, 14(7), 998-1016.
  • Zhang, W., Johnson, T. J., Seltzer, T., & Bichard, S. L. (2010). The Revolution Will be Networked: The Influence of Social Networking Sites on Political Attitudes and Behavior. Social Science Computer Review, 28 (1), 75-92.
  • Zinbarg, R. E., Revelle, W., Yovel, I., & Li, W. (2005). Cronbach's α, Revelle's β, and McDonald's ωH :Their Relations With Each Other and Two Alternative Conceptualizations of Reliability. Psychometrika, 70 (1), 123–133.