Blogosphere and Social Media

Abstract

The momentous events sweeping the Arab world since late 2010 raised important questions about the art and science of analyzing political and societal events. In an age of information surplus, which creates the illusion that one can easily know what is happening anywhere in the world, big surprises still occur. Societies change, governments make choices that have consequences, and the political life of a country or a region is transformed. This chapter of Seismic Shift: Understanding Change in the Middle East provides deep background and context for the recent and dramatic use of social media in the Arab revolts, and broadly summarizes the messages in the media.

Keywords: Arab Spring, social media, blog, blogs, blogosphere, cyberactivism, cyber activism, Middle East, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain