Here's the result of an interview I did with John FaganHe used my "Facebook for the War, Twitter for the Battle" quote for one of the titles of his dissertation, which i'm proud of. :-) I've never met John in person.
Thibaud Smerko,
21/08/2012, 12;16p.m.
Q-Could you state your name, current
occupation, your current location, your country of origin and your location at
the time of the Egyptian Revolution please.
Thibaud
Smerko.Student/unemployed. Cairo, Egypt. FR/USA. Cairo.
Q-Did you have a role to play in the
Egyptian revolution? If so, what was your role? If not, what is your connection
with Egypt?
I did not have a
direct role to play in the Egyptian revolution. Although, I believe that just
by talking with Egyptians about problems in the country, this plays a small
role and influences their thoughts. I had only been in Egypt for a total of
about 6 months before the revolution. I was/am working studying Arabic in
Egypt.
Q-Where were you at the initial stages
of the Egyptian Revolution? i.e. January 2011
In Egypt. Mainly in
the Dokki neighborhood.
Q-How did you first hear about the
revolution?
By talking with
friends and television.
Q-When did you first encounter
information about the Egyptian revolution on social media websites? What social
media websites?
On facebook probably
sometime in February. I had not been using twitter much at that time.
Q-As a mobilisation tool how effective
was Facebook in your opinion?
Facebook was one
element which helped galvanized opinions and harden spirits of youth. When you
see there are one million plus Egyptians in the same “ we are all Khaled Said”
group, you are emboldened. The real mobilization “tool” was the fact that the
25th was a national holiday (police day). So everyone was off of
work and had been inspired by what happened in Tunisia.
Q-As a mobilisation tool how effective
was Twitter in your opinion?
I don’t know for
twitter concerning the initial phases. Later on it was the main tool used by
activist in Tahrir and surrounding areas to get supplies, share info.
Q-Which do you feel was more effective
as a mobilisation tool, Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook was more
effective to build up support in the long run, through groups. Twitter was/is
highly effective in the short term.
Q-How effective was Facebook for making
the international audience aware of the situation in Egypt?
I don’t know, I
wasn’t abroad at the time. I feel like most people living abroad are not
connected to Egyptians on Facebook so would not see any posts in their
newsfeed. I feel like most of their info would be gotten from traditional news
outlets. That being said, a lot of news channels just had their anchors quoting
Facebook and twitter the whole time.
Q-How effective was Twitter for making
the international audience aware of the situation in Egypt?
More effective than
fb because twitter is more public/open.
Q-Which do you feel was more effective
as a tool of dissemination or broadcast, Facebook or Twitter?
Twitter.
Q-What was the exact role of social
media websites during the Egyptian revolution?
As mentioned above,
galvanizing, grouping youth. Showing them that they’re not alone, and that
there are millions others like them out there.
Q-In your opinion did social media
become a primary media tool at any stage for Egyptian activists during the
Egyptian revolution?
I think activists are
usually more concerned with immediate happenings on the ground. They’re not
connected to the TV stations and don’t have influence on TV stations which is
still where most Egyptians get their news from.
Q-Do you feel there were any barriers
to using social media as a dissemination or broadcast tool or disadvantages to
the use of social media during the revolution?
The masses don’t have
access to it. Look up internet penetration numbers in Egypt. They’re still low,
and of that number, much less use Facebook and twitter actively.
Q-Were there particular organisations
or people responsible for organizing the use of social media as a mobilisation
and dissemination tool during the revolution?
I don’t know. I think
these things mainly happen organically, word of mouth.
Q-How much of a role do you think
social media had to play in the Egyptian revolution? What was its primary use?
Taken from above:
Facebook was one
element which helped galvanized opinions and harden spirits of youth. When you
see there are one million plus Egyptians in the same “we are all Khaled Said”
group, you are emboldened. The real mobilization “tool” was the fact that the
25th was a national holiday (police day). So everyone was off of
work and had been inspired by what happened in Tunisia.
Twitter
I don’t know for
twitter concerning the initial phases. Later on it was the main tool used by
activists in Tahrir and surrounding areas to get supplies, share info.
Q-Which do you feel was more effective
as a mobilisation tool, Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook was more
effective to build of support in the long run, through groups. Twitter was/is
highly effective in the short term.
Q-What would you consider was more
important to the Egyptian revolution, Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook for the war.
Twitter for the battles.
Q-Has social media brought about a
change in how traditional media relays news, what’s your opinion?
I mentioned this
above. They now tend to oftentimes quote social media as unofficial sources.
i.e. YouTube videos of Syria. Tweets per second on a certain topic.
Q-Do you think social media was more
important than traditional media for the sake of the Egyptian revolution?
Yes.
Q-With regard to social media, do you
believe that transnationalism is on the rise due to the increasing popularity
of social media websites?
transnational |transˈnashənl; tranz-|
adjective
extending or
operating across national boundaries : transnational advertising agencies.
noun
a large company
operating internationally; a multinational.
DERIVATIVES
transnationalism|-ˌizəm| noun
transnationallyadverb
not really, but it is
going in the direction of transnationalism. Still though, most people are only
connected to others from their own country. And we’re talking about virtual
connections, not actually real people you’ve met (especially for Twitter)
Q-Was it an important aspect of the
issues in Egypt reaching a global audience?
That question is a
bit off. But yes, it was paramount for the Egyptian cause to be heard abroad. This
offered pressure on the regime to “play nice”. (it was still bad, but could
have been so much worse ). The USA’s “call for democracy” (BS in my personal
opinion) came about because of the international pressure, thus pressure on
Mubarak, etc, etc.
Q-In your opinion was the use of social
media more relevant to the Western media and getting the issues in Egypt
recognised internationally than it was to Egyptians?
No. more important to
Egyptians. It helped get around the state controlled media.
Q-Do you think social media can be an
effective tool during times of political unrest?
Duh. Yes. Especially in
a state controlled media environment.
Q-Do you think social media can be
trusted to depict the truth at all times?
No. just as activists
can use it to distort their truths, so can political leaders. More and more
political leaders are using SM, especially in the Middle East. There was an
article written about this recently.
Q-Have social media websites overtaken
television, newspapers, radio and other forms of media in terms of importance
and dissemination?
No. maybe yes for
newspapers, but times are changing, economic/business models are changing.
We’ll see what new models emerge in the next decade or two.
Q-What do you think the future holds
for social media websites? Have they become important political tools?
Yes. While leaders
have held on to traditional media, they are now grasping this new form of media
and beginning to use it to their wiles. But in general, it’s definitely leveled
the political playing field and allowed more transparency.
Q-Do you believe social media was
responsible for the revolution or was it merely a tool to build support?
A tool to build
support.Obviously. Social media is just a tool use by groups of people with
common interests/causes.
Additional Comments:
I hope this helped. Also, good luck
with this. It would be better if you were in Egypt for this research. I might
recommend trying to see historical data about the sizes of groups, the
frequency of tweets during certain times, peaks, etc. to provide some more
data. I’d be curious/thankful to get a copy of the final dissertation too if
that’s okay with you. Also, if it’s okay with you, I might publish these
answers on my blog. Thibaudsmerko.blogspot.com. let me know.
