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Tweeting our way to democracy and freedom?
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
April 21st, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
April 21st, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
Centuries of repression were challenged and essentially sent packing
with the introduction of devices, which elsewhere are seen as harmless
diversion. The Arab Spring sent autocratic leaders on the run due in
large part to the easy availability of Facebook, email, Smartphone's and
other social media. Young Muslims, accounting for 50-65 percent of
these regions's population, embraced these new platforms of mass
communication becoming revolutionary figures shortly afterward.
Arab satellite television provided a vital and viable alternative to state-controlled media outlets that previously engaged only in pro-regime propaganda often at the expense the truth.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter inventor Jack Dorsey couldn't have possibly foreseen the liberalizing impact their creations would have on the Middle East. Social media was instrumental in the mass communication and organization of the Arab Spring movement that expressed the aspirations of millions of young people for meaningful political change.
Through videos and blogs, Facebook pages, and mobile phone applications, America can now engage in meaningful conversation with the Muslim world, the Internet and its attendant technology reinventing the very essence of international relations.
However - there is growing evidence that launching a successful public diplomacy campaign via social media may be easier said than done. An innovative global digital outreach campaign was recently introduced by the U.S. State Department, allowing citizens from across the world to ask under-secretary for public diplomacy, Judith McHale, questions in 10 different languages using the #AskUSA Twitter hashtag.
This campaign was a failure. Most of the tweets consisted of either spam or communication from American officials from outside the U.S.
It must be noted that all relationships both off and online need time to develop. The American State Department, understanding this, reached out to young Iranians with its "Ask Alan" campaign through the USAdarFarsi social media platform that combines YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
Will "Ask Alan" fair better than previous campaigns? Only time will tell.
As the struggle for democracy continues throughout the Muslim world, millions of young people look to the social sphere as a virtual meeting place where they can share ideas, frustrations and hopes regarding the struggle for greater freedom in their nations.
America's digital outreach campaign can both guide and support the cause of democracy.
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.