Exploring the democratic potential of online social networking: The scope and limitations of e-participation

Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Information Systems.The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research

The Omnipresence of Television and the Ascendancy of Surveillance/Sousveillance in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

This paper is an attempt to analyze Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451(1953) under the light of Jean Baudrillard's notions on the media and the influences it exerts on people's daily lives, and with an eye to Michel Foucault's surveillance as well. The title-mentioned work, it is suggested, portrays a representative sample of a culture where different fields including books, education, and history fall under the influence of the media. Bradbury presents a society in which its inhabitants are bombarded with excessive data transmitted through television most of which is detrimental and not reliable. It is concluded that the presented culture in the novel is a microcosm of contemporary societies where authorities keep their subjects under control, engendering an atmosphere of anxiety, trepidation and apprehension for subversive forces and therefore preclude any disturbance on the part of the

Protest Images, Collective Portraits

A aparência é uma instância política, uma vez que a representação coletiva é uma possibilidade de emancipação da comunidade, dos “povos” (Didi-Huberman, 2012) e um mecanismo de constituição de memória cultural. A possibilidade de aparência, que também participa da história coletiva é uma relação de poder em si mesma. Na cultura digital, a aparência global banalizou-se, mas também foi dissolvida sob um regime tecnológico digital de produção visual, de “imagem de massa” (Cubitt, 2016). A imaterialidade, a obsolescência programada, as versões de software disponibilizado e a dependência para produzir e criar visualidades sob a influência de regimes corporativos globais, que organizam sistemas e tecnologias, tornam esta afirmação paradoxal e problemática para uma constituição coletiva dessas representações, correndo o risco de mercantilizar a memória. Apesar disso, tem havido uma ligação entre técnicas culturais e memória, onde a “ideologia californiana” (Barbrook, 1999) organiza a cultura digital, num equilíbrio entre uma “cultura participativa” e um “empreendedorismo neoliberal”. No entanto, nunca uma quantidade tão grande de imagens foi produzida e partilhada. Hito Steyerl define estas imagens digitais como “imagens pobres” ou, como defendido neste trabalho, imagens precárias, ao criar uma correspondência entre o atual regime político de trabalho com uma produção visual digital, numa perspectiva não profissional. Mas em momentos de protesto, estas “imagens pobres”, reconhecidas como desvalorizadas, comunicam e criar memória e história, emancipando a noção de vídeo “vernacular” como parte da acção política (Snowdon, 2014). Foram momentos como os movimentos sociais de 2011, como as “Arab Springs”, “Movimento 12M”,“Madrid 15M” e “Occupy Wall Street”, em que as “redes de indignação e esperança”(Castells, 2012) se formaram e surgiram globalmente, num espaço público híbrido de contestação, que estas imagens podem ser novamente convocadas. Conforme analisado, na paisagem visual do Youtube.com, onde “a cultura participativa continua a ser o seu principal negócio” (Burgess e Green, 2009), estas imagens fazem parte do fluxo dos protestos e a sua recuperação constitui um ato de “reaparecimento”. Este reaparecimento é pensado aqui em diferentes gestos, respectivamente, como constituição de um corpus de vídeos de protesto, alinhados pela metáfora das imagens-pirilampos (Didi-Huber man, 2009), em tempos digitais, transportadas para o continente visual do Youtube.com. Também como parte de uma investigação prática, foi desenvolvido um protótipo de um documentário interativo, como um filme plataforma, organizado em torno da representação de uma “articulação do protesto” (Steyerl, 2002) onde as contribuições se organizam, entre linhas temporais individuais e coletivas. Como num editor de vídeo, é proposta uma mesa de montagem como experiência participativa, utilizando os materiais dos protestos. Este estudo propõe experimentar práticas artísticas como num “laboratório crítico” (Hirschhorn, 2013) com um efeito de “coletivos encontrados” presente no arquivo (Baron, 2013) que se constituem neste artefacto multimédia, interativo enquanto hipótese de persistência na memória coletiva, ou retrato coletivo de aparência política, a partir de momentos de protesto de movimentos sociais como os de 2011. Produzir uma intervenção activista e estética, uma intervenção artivista, como “forma de arte” política do século XXI (Weibel, 2014).Appearance is a political instance, as collective representation is a possibility to an emancipation of communities, of the “peuples” (Didi-Huberman, 2012), and a mechanism of constitution of cultural memory. The possibility of appearance that also participates in the history of collectives is a power relation in itself. In digital culture, global appearance seems to have exploded, but it has also been dissolved under a digital technological regime of “mass image”(Cubitt, 2016) visual production. Immateriality, programmed obsolescence, pervasive software and a dependence to produce and visualize under global corporations regimes, that organize systems and technologies, make this affirmation paradoxical and problematic to a collective constitution of these representations with a risk of commodifying memory. Despite this, there has been a connection between cultural techniques and memory, that under the “Californian Ideology” (Barbrook, 1999) digital culture is organized as a balance between “participatory culture” and “neoliberal entrepreneurship”. However, never such a quantity of images have been produced and shared. Hito Steyerl defines these as “poor images” or as stated here, defined as precarious images, making a correspondence between present political regimes of labour with visual and cultural production digitally produced, as non professional video. But in moments of uprisings, these poor images, commonly recognized as devalued, served to communicate and create memory and History, emancipating “vernacular” videos as part of the political actors (Snowdon, 2014) Such were moments as 2011 social movements, like “Arab Springs”, “Moviment12M”, “Madrid15M” and “Occupy Wall Street”, when “networks of outrage and hope” (Manuel Castells, 2012) stepped out globally, in an hybrid public space of insurrection. As analyzed in visual landscapes of Youtube.com where “participatory culture is its core business” (Burgess and Green, 2009), these images were part of the uprisings flow, and their retrieval constitutes an act of “reappearance”. This reappearance is oriented here in different gestures, respectively as a constitution of a corpus of protest videos, aligned through the metaphor of fireflies-images (Didi-Huberman, 2009) in digital times, transported to Youtube.com visual continents. Also, as part of a practice based research, a prototype of an interactive documentary, as a platform film, has been developed, aligned with a representation of an “articulation of protest”(Hito Steyerl, 2002) where, as an editing table, between individual and collective timelines, a participatory interactive experience is proposed, using remnant materials of protests. This study essays how to relate artistic practices of “Critical Laboratory” (Hirschhorn, 2013) with “found collective” effect of archive documentary (Jaimie Baron, 2013) related in this digital, online, multimedia, interactive, audiovisual artifact, produced by individuals with digital images, in a way to persist in collective memory and become a collective portrait of political appearance from historical moments of social movements uprisings as those of 2011. At the same time, an activist and aesthetic intervention, an artivist intervention takes place, as a political “XXIst Century art form” (Weibel, 2014)

Arab 2.0 revolutions : investigating social media networks during waves of the Egyptian political uprisings that occur between 2011, 2012 and 2013

Social media networks were at the centre of the dramatic events in 2011 events widely referred to as ‘the Arab Spring’ uprising or revolution. This thesis investigates the role of social media networks (such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) in facilitating political mobilisation and the creation of a new Arab public sphere. The thesis asks whether the Arab Spring revolutions would have even happened in the absence of social media networks. The analysis will focus specifically on Egypt and how these networks acted as a catalyst and tool for mobilisation and how they shifted the balance of power between civilian activists and the authoritarian regime in the uprisings that occurred in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The primary research data reveals that social media networks have gone through four distinct phases: outrage and hope, instability and distrust, disinformation and criticism, and antagonism and hate. As these phases have been enacted during the three waves of social unrest in Egypt, networks have become a key player in generating and shifting power. This thesis draws on network theories of communication such as ‘the strength of weak ties’ (Granovetter 1973) and ‘communication power’ (Castells 2009). Castells proposes that social networks can be sites of ‘outrage and hope’ (2012) but in this thesis I argue that social media has developed into ‘networks of antagonism and hate’. This argument is made after an empirical analysis of the Facebook data sets of the liberals and Islamists which shows they have become sites of clashing ideologies. This thesis will also highlight the role other media played in the uprisings, such as Arab satellite channels such as Aljazeera, Hacktivists groups such as Anonymous and Telecomix and the whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks. The primary analysis of Facebook data sets identifies complex power dynamic between Islamists and liberals, who have both played dominant roles in the battle over information dissemination in their attempts to control society

Rural Egypt and the public sphere: the effect of social media and the new media environment on political interaction, 2011-2015.

A large body of academic research has developed regarding the prevalence of social media in society, and its impact. Previous research has delved into this topic from the perspective of psychology, business administration, sociology, politics, law, and media communication studies. One common thread among many that can be found in a large number of these academic endeavours is the attempt to evaluate the manner in which social media impacts norms, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. This thesis investigates this same topic through an analysis of rural citizens in Egypt in the period between 2011 and 2015. The main topic addressed in this thesis is the impact of the new media environment, specifically the synergy between social media and satellite television, on the public sphere and political interactions of rural Egypt, with the aim of assessing the role social media played in the neglected areas of Egypt during the 2011 uprisings. To do this, this thesis addresses (i) the effect of social capital on the political interaction of citizens in the public sphere with a consideration of social media access, (ii) how social media changed individual norms of political interaction within the public sphere of rural Egypt during and after 2011 due to convergence with television media, and (iii) how media coverage of the uprisings impacted micro public spheres and sentiments of empowerment and social capital in rural Egypt. It is found that rural Egypt contributed significantly to the 2011 uprisings, and their 2013 counterparts. Social capital among the rural population is shown to have had a marked effect on the development of the 2011 uprisings, as well as their success. Through primary research and supporting data, it is shown that there were four distinct stages of media use during the period of the 2011 uprisings that, when analysed, highlight that social media could not have been the primary determinant of the uprisings and their aftermath. While social media did play a role, it was not the driving factor behind the uprisings. Issues such as economic, linguistic, and infrastructural barriers prevented social media penetration from being significant enough to be the driving force it has been considered by some academics. Moreover, the state’s decision to cut Internet access early on in the timeline of the uprisings highlight that other factors were at play. Finally, the four stages of media contribution bring to light the expansion of rural Egypt’s social capital during this time, and show that this played a stronger role than had been previously thought when evaluating the 2011 uprisings. As such, other factors - social capital, interaction norms, and the public sphere - are evaluated given the findings on social media’s role

Social Uprisings: Conceptualization, Measurement, Causes and Implications

The PhD thesis titled Social Uprisings: Conceptualization, Measurement, Causes and Implications consists of four stand alone papers. The first two papers are the essential building blocks to the overall thesis. The first paper provides the conceptualization of social uprisings. Upon the findings of the first paper, the social uprisings composite indicator (SUCI) is constructed in a co-authored second paper with Prof. Hayo. The final two papers are applications for the study of social uprisings using the newly constructed SUCI. The first paper is titled Conceptualizing Social Uprisings. The paper starts by identifying the gap in literature in the study of revolutions. Researchers criticize the ambiguity of the term revolution. It is interesting that this criticism has been reported in extant literature to researchers as early as Yoder (1926) and it is still validated by Beck (2014). Despite the advancement of research methods and various papers published on the topic of revolution. It appears that the term does not have a consensus for its meaning

Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring

Did digital media really "cause" the Arab Spring, or is it an important factor of the story behind what might become democracy's fourth wave? An unlikely network of citizens used digital media to start a cascade of social protest that ultimately toppled four of the world's most entrenched dictators. Howard and Hussain find that the complex causal recipe includes several economic, political and cultural factors, but that digital media is consistently one of the most important sufficient and necessary conditions for explaining both the fragility of regimes and the success of social movements. This book looks at not only the unexpected evolution of events during the Arab Spring, but the deeper history of creative digital activism throughout the region.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117564/1/Democracy's Fourth Wave.pdfDescription of Democracy's Fourth Wave.pdf : PD

Electronic Democracy

The timely book takes stock of the state of the art and future of electronic democracy, exploring the history and potential of e-democracy in global perspective. Analysing the digital divide, the role of the internet as a tool for political mobilisation, internet Voting and Voting Advice Applications, and other phenomena, this volume critically engages with the hope for more transparency and political participation through e-democracy

Electronic Democracy

The timely book takes stock of the state of the art and future of electronic democracy, exploring the history and potential of e-democracy in global perspective. Analysing the digital divide, the role of the internet as a tool for political mobilisation, internet Voting and Voting Advice Applications, and other phenomena, this volume critically engages with the hope for more transparency and political participation through e-democracy