JOUR-J 261 New Media and The Arab
Spring
Fall 2012
Instructor: Anas Alahmed
aalahmed@indiana.edu
MW: 1:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m.
Ernie Pyle Room 102
Course Description:
The “Arab Spring” ushered in many changes in the Middle
East. Some call it a "Twitter revolution”--but was it? This course
examines the role of New Media in the recent Arab revolutions and seeks to
understand the concept of new media in the Arab world. In practical terms, the
course explains how citizens follow the news and how they update events
minute-by-minute through the social media networks platform. It shows how
journalists and Internet activists, involved in the revolution, use cyberspace
and provide news and information, and how these activists became sources for
news organizations. Citizens are posting pictures of the events, using Flicker,
uploading videos through Youtube, and are following the revolution’s progress
through Twitter. Additionally, Facebook has become a broad discussion forum for
solidarity and supporters of the revolution, and it was the paradigm for the
revolution strategy. Wikipedia, on the other hand, became an official record of
the uprisings for movements and protests. It was a means of planning when the
revolution would begin and how and where. Social media have collectivity helped
the Revolution in many ways.
