Social Media and the Public Sphere

The recent unfolding of events has seen Egypt undergo a period of revolution, whereby the military forces took the reign of the country after the abrupt ousting of Hosni Mubarak. With the military holding the nation by the scruff of its neck, the citizens are consequently living in fear and insecurity. The sequence of events have led to the usage of social media networks to spread the message across Egypt, spreading a public sermon on the downsides of having military forces to be in power in the process. That marks the rise of citizen journalism which is touted by many as a prospect which lacks credibility. Elian and Liebelson (2011) however, states that the social media and citizen journalism are not threats to the world of professional journalism, as long as they a fully become multimedia reporters and editors respectively.

The events have ushered in a new generation of social media networking in Egypt, as citizens have took to cyberspace to spread the word, one after another. The proliferation of these actions have sent a warning signal to the men in power, allowing them to acknowledge the effectiveness of the social media. Hoffman (2011) and Kornweitz (2011) proclaim that democratic nation states utilize the new media as a weapon in the political playing field, in the sense that they disseminate their information through the new media platform.

In conclusion, freedom of speech within the public sphere is vital towards democracy. As according to Ray (2004), freedom of speech is considered one of the most important human rights, as it signifies the possibility for anybody to say what they wish, or to express one’s own opinion. In order for Egypt to achieve the status of democracy, they must first exploit the potential of the social media like never before. If done wisely, the social media will be designed to reshape the political landscape of Egypt in a whole.

References

Elian, M & Liebelson, D 2011, Journalism Trainer: Blogging a must for professional journalists, International Journalists Network, viewed 12 November 2011 < http://ijnet.org/stories/journalism-trainer-blogging-must-professional-journalists >

Hoffmann, J & Kornweitz, A 2011, ‘New Media Revolution,’ Media Development, vol. 58, Issue 1, pp. 7-11,

Ray, D 2004, Freedom of Speech, Spirit democracy, University of Western Ontario, viewed 8 November 2011,