United States Institute of Peace | USIP :: An extraordinary wave of popular protest swept the Arab world in 2011. Massive popular mobilization brought down long-ruling leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, helped spark bloody struggles in Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, and fundamentally reshaped the nature of politics in the region. New media—at least that which uses bit.ly linkages—did not appear to play a significant role in either in-country collective action or regional diffusion during this period.
This lack of impact, does it mean social media was therefore unimportant?
New media outlets that use bit.ly are more likely to spread information outside the region than inside it, acting like a megaphone more than a rallying cry.
Main findings continue to read here Peaceworks by Sean Aday | Henry Farrell | Mark Lynch | John Sides | Deen Freelon, www.usip.org
Study download link (PDF direct download: 2.47MB)
HT: Henry Farrell (one of the authors), themonkeycage.org found via @octavianasr RT of Mark Little here:
Twitter played the role of megaphone during Arab Spring, says new study bit.ly/N0vXEu via @octavianasr
— mark little (@marklittlenews) July 15, 2012
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