The Idea of Launching a Social Network Group Page to Commence (Provoke) a Riot!

Facebook networking causes joy or sadness, depending upon the circumstances. It appears that it can also cause a concern and statement.

Considering the influence of the mass media as a mobilising force of dissidence, loosening the Soviet’s grip on the monopoly of media power during the final years of the USSR (Kotz and Weir, 1997:60-61), we can see that technology is an immensely important facilitator of popular unrest in the modern era. Certainly, there should be no doubts as to the intrinsic value of new media, particularly digital media, to the success of the protests unfolding in the Middle East at the present time. In Libya, for instance, social networking and news websites including Facebook and al-Jazeera Arabic have been blocked as the state seeks to re-stamp its authority upon a dissenting people (BBC Website; first accessed 19.02.11).

These websites, as well as images and videos captured on mobile telephones, are immensely important means of perpetuating civil unrest in the contemporary era. Not only do these new media platforms connect dissenters, they act as verifiable proof of human rights atrocities in states where foreign journalists and independent watchdogs are routinely banned. This, in turn, only serves to increase the sense of resentment at a grass roots level, further fuelling the schism between the state and the people. As a result, we can see that, the masses can only begin to feel a sense of injustice at the hypocrisy of political leaders when they are made aware that they are being lied to in the first place. It is consequently essential to highlight the significance of the mass media as a facilitator of change at a political level. This is especially true of new media solutions where it is increasingly clear that the “perception of the world and access to it have been transformed.” (Street, 2010:164)