Political Activism, Social Media and Regional Development: A Narrative Analysis of Arab Spring Movement

Abstract

The role of social media during the Arab spring and particularly at the outset of the revolution was indeed instrumental and pivotal. In this study, we see the use of the internet or social media for Arab uprising. Social media proved as a catalyst in the unity of the Arabs against the tyrannical rulers and economic downturns in the Arab world. The story of the Arab Spring began with the suicide of Muhammad Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, who incinerated himself after being subjected to police brutality. The protests had significantly raised many notions for civil rights as their voices and actions had played a triggering role in the revolution. The Arab Spring is the outcome of decades of civil and political unrest of rights as the Arab Spring might herald as the first social revolution in the 21st century as the people now have an individual and collective social voice against the various forms of fear, manipulations, disinformation and control that was from the authoritarian regimes. The research is a narrative and critical analysis of the Arab Spring literature, which discusses its cause, the role of social media, and the regional developments in this regard.