Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual framework for understanding the social media and the Arab Spring

Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual framework for understanding the social media and the Arab Spring Order Description This assignment is meant to contribute towards your Literature Review & Research Proposal Project. To fulfill this obligation you must meet the following three obligations: (1) establish how the selected article intersects with your research interests; (2) explain the central theme or relevance of the article; and, (3) explain how your tentative research project builds upon the contributions of this article. This assignment is graded as “credit / no credit.” Credit Relevance of selected article for research interests is clearly explained; central theme or contribution of the article is explained rigorously and concisely; how your tentative research project builds upon the contributions of this article is clear. No Credit Failure to meet any of the criteria above.focus more about how the social media change our relationship with our society,so I will upload the article which he ask me to do the annotated bibliography and keep it in your mind that my focus in (how the social media change our relationship nowadays? A NNOTATED B IBLIOGRAPHY This assignment is meant to contribute towards your Literature Review & Research Proposal Project . To fulfill this obligati on you must meet the following three obligations: (1) establish how the selected article intersects with your research interests; (2) explain the central theme or relevance of the article; and, (3) explain how your tentative research project builds upon the contributions of this article. This assignment is graded as “credit / no credit.” Credit Relevance of selec ted article for research interests is clearly explained; central theme or contribution of the article is explained rigorously and concisely; how your tentative research project builds upon the contributions of this article is clear. No Credit Failure to m eet any of the criteria above. This article was downloaded by: [66.66.224.181] On: 04 December 2014, At: 00:37 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cicm20 Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual framework for understanding the social media and the Arab Spring Francesca Comunello a & Giuseppe Anzera a a Department of Communication and Social Research , Sapienza University of Rome , Italy Published online: 05 Sep 2012. To cite this article: Francesca Comunello & Giuseppe Anzera (2012) Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual framework for understanding the social media and the Arab Spring, Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 23:4, 453-470, DOI: 10.1080/09596410.2012.712435 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.712435 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual framework for understanding the social media and the Arab Spring Francesca Comunello* and Giuseppe Anzera Department of Communication and Social Research, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy The goal of this article is to build a conceptual framework for understanding the role of social media in the so-called ‘ Arab Spring ’ , considering two different disciplinary perspectives: International Relations and Internet Studies. More specifically, it relies on literature on Middle Eastern political systems and on social network sites. It also refers to literature that examines the relationship between (social) media engagement and civic engagement. Building on this foundation, the article analyses the main attempts to evaluate the ‘ impact ’ of social media on the ‘ Arab Spring ’ from specific perspectives. Commentators have tended to adopt a dichotomous vision of the topic, either emphasizing the ‘ revolutionary ’ role of social media or totally minimizing its role; this article defines them as digital evangelists and techno-realists respectively. In order to prove their point of view, both sides focus on the same issues. The study critically analyses the main issues, discussing how they have been interpreted by both digital evangelists and techno-realists. Through a multidisciplinary framework, it proposes a more nuanced picture of the relationship between the social media and the ‘ Arab Spring ’ . Keywords: Arab Spring; social media; internet studies; digital evangelists; techno-realists; international relations Analysing the relationship between the ‘ Arab Spring ’ and social media from a multidisciplinary perspective The so-called ‘ Arab Spring ’ has received wide media coverage in Western countries. Many commentators quickly emphasized the role played by social media, defining the situation as a ‘ social media revolution ’ , mainly focusing on its organizational aspects (social media contributions to organizing protestor activities) and information spread (social media are a powerful tool for grassroots journalism and for independent information spread). Others minimized the role of social media, claiming that only a minority of people in the Arab countries have Internet access (and even fewer mobile Internet access), or even suggesting that social media may have represented an important tool for secret services to identify and localize activists. Not only journalists, but also Internet scholars and International Relations scholars have questioned the role of the social media in the ‘ Arab Spring ’ , and their opinions, some of which will be reviewed in the following paragraphs, have gained acceptance in the public debate, mainly through the media system. Early in the debate, understandably, there was no empirical research to support their assumptions, and, like journalists and other commentators, they often proposed dichotomous visions of the topic, either emphasizing the ‘ revolutionary ’ role of social media, or minimizing it. For a better understanding of the role of social media in the so-called ‘ Arab Spring ’ , however, a more nuanced picture is needed. Social media cannot be interpreted as the ‘ main cause ’ of such complex processes, nor can they be seen as completely uninfluential. In order to build a more balanced framework for discussion, we consider the ISSN 0959-6410 print/ISSN 1469-9311 online © 2012 University of Birmingham http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.712435 http://www.tandfonline.com *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Islam and Christian – Muslim Relations Vol. 23, No. 4, October 2012, 453 – 470 Downloaded by [66.66.224.181] at 00:37 04 December 2014 PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT :)