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Social Media

PODCAST | We are all…NETWORKED.

Dr. Rasha Abdulla, associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo speaks with us about her work on big data, social media and the Egyptian Revolution. Together with a group of scholars from the University of Amsterdam, Dr. Abdulla conducted big data research using the contents of the “We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page. Dr. Abdulla was lead on an article investigating the role of the page as a venue for lessons in democratic participation.

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Cases of Contention: Activism, Social Media and Law in Saudi Arabia

In a systematic examination of Saudi law, Lara-Zuzan Golesorkhi explores how the Kingdom has justified its crackdown on activists and dissenters on social media. Golesorkhi investigates how these laws have been applied in the cases of nine different activists in the last four years. Mapping their trajectories alongside the language enshrined into Saudi law, this article offers valuable insight into why and how these actions have been taken by the Kingdom.

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Social Media in Syria’s Uprising and Post-Revolution Libya: An Analysis of Activists’ and Blogger’s Online Engagement

Masudul Biswas and Carrie Sipes perform a comparative content analysis of Twitter and Facebook posts from a sample of Syrian and Libyan activist groups. By considering online content in the context of post-revolution Libya and the continuing upheaval in Syria, the authors shed new light on online activist agenda-setting. They find that while social media is used as a tool to maintain and expand momentum during revolution, in a post-revolution climate the same media serves as a venue for idea-sharing and political discourse.

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Digital Activism: Efficacies and Burdens of Social Media for Civic Activism

In a comprehensive study of social media usage among social movement organizations in Lebanon, Jad Melki and Sarah Mallat investigate the efficacy of digital technology as a tool for activism. The authors find that while social media platforms offer a number of perceived benefits to activism work, there remain significant obstacles that manifest both on and offline.

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