Media and the Arab uprisings of 2011: Research notes

TLDR

The 2011 Arab uprisings unfolded rapidly across North Africa and the Middle East, with media and communication networks becoming deeply intertwined in the events, leading some to label them the “Twitter” or “Facebook” revolutions, though the media dynamics were more complex. This essay seeks to map the multifaceted ways media systems and communication networks conditioned and facilitated the uprisings, thereby expanding the analytical framework for future scholarly inquiry.

Abstract

In the opening months of 2011 the world witnessed a series of tumultuous events in North Africa and the Middle East that soon became known as the Arab uprisings. What is striking about them is not only their historical momentousness and stunning speed of succession across so many countries, but also the different ways in which media and communications became inextricably infused inside them. Indeed some have been so bold as to label them as the ‘Twitter Revolutions’ or ‘Facebook Revolutions.’ This, however, does less than justice to the media complexities involved. This essay sets out to capture something of the broader, overlapping and interpenetrating ways in which media systems and communication networks have complexly conditioned and facilitated these remarkable historical events and communicated them around the world. In this way it aims to broaden the frame of reference for future in-depth, scholarly research.