The Middle East has made the world realise the amount of power citizens have when given the motivation and tools to revolt.
The Middle East is experiencing many revolts from citizens at the moment and there is growing debate how influential such social medias as Facebook and Twitter. This is highlighted with the Egyptian and Libyan government blocking such sites to stop citizens commenting on the unrest. This unrest have lead China to become more strict on their media outlets, which makes me question, it is social media that starts revolutions or the people behind it?
In an age where new media is used by millions and helps connect people from local, national and international communities there is growing debate around how much power new media out lets and the people who use them have. New media developed from Web 2.0 which allowed people to connect with others and comment on what they saw, this is a revolution in its self despite seeming a relevantly old concept to some of us.
Public relations has developed massively in recent years with more social media out lets allowing PR practitioners to use the media in different ways. However, it’s not just PR practitioners using new media to for successful outcomes.
There are millions of examples which show social media to be a great tool, not just for businesses but for expression of freedom, in the case of the Middle East social media has allowed a motivated population to communicate and organise, this emphasising that it is both the people and the tools they have that help start revolutions.
Please see the following site by Linda Herrera
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/612/egypts-revolution-2.0_the-facebook-factor
hannahdcollins 