- Nov 2018
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www.twitterandteargas.org www.twitterandteargas.org
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As regime after regime fell, the world watched transfixed, glued to the social media feeds of thousands of young people from the region who had taken to tweeting, streaming, and reporting from the ground.
I'm reminded of Gil Scott-Heron's seminal 1970 song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
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- Feb 2018
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www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
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What contemporary object can be both a tool and a weapon, like the machete? Communication technologies like cell phones might serve as one candidate, especially in light of their application during the “Arab Spring.” But can the iPhone ever bear the same gravitas as the machete? Is silicon the new steel? Information has been a part of every arsenal, revolutionary or otherwise. Still, it’s hard to imagine driving a smartphone into a body “down to the Apple.”
The writer brings a more modern and relatable point of view into the the mix. Since in this day in age almost everybody in America has a smartphone it makes it more easier for the readers to understand the point he is trying to make. Then brings up a controversial point of Arab terrorist using smart phones to act out violence. A entirely different but similar view to take based on the machete argument. It strengthens his claims, the more some isolates different realms of reason the more the topic can handled more circumspectly. (Haltman 7). He broadens his horizons by presented a more relatable topic to the audience instead of just sticking to just a provincial topic of farming tool and weaponry.
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- Dec 2015
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www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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That’s how Isis is recruiting and growing.
Wow. Blaming "the stream" of social media for ISIS! How does that square with the celebration of social media as democratizing force in the Arab Spring?...
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- Jun 2015
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www.salon.com www.salon.com
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the social media narrative recalled Cold War ideas that capitalist technology would triumph over communist inefficiency, as if people in the Middle East couldn’t have rebelled on their own without the gifts of American entrepreneurs. In the end, whatever was tweeted, there was no Twitter revolution in Iran.
Would like to know more about the Cold War ideas referenced above.
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