Politics and Social Media

Change is a fundamental feature of human societies. People may be socialised politically into the traditional rules and practices of a society but this does not necessarily reinforce the status quo, preventing change or progress. Bottomore in his book ‘Political Sociology’ defines political change as one which brings about a significant reorganisation of government apparatus, a change in the relation between government and people, and to a large extent a restructuring of social relationships. Media, more specifically social media, has a substantive effect as contributor to change in contemporary world politics as we see events unfolding before us.

 Social Media and Its Influence in Contemporary Politics
         
After Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign, many politicians turned to twitter to disseminate, their thoughts, with many U.S. Senators adopting social media tolls to raise awareness.  Politicians around the world are joining in the conversation in greater number each day, oppositions and government alike. However there is another type of political network rising which has nothing to do with any parties. First we saw it in North Korea, then in China, then in Iran... Those first attempts did not change the system but sent clear warnings to all their oppressors that the “public” knows what their leaders do and the “public” can act, organizing through the internet. Social media has helped in the restructuring of governments in Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt. Its effect could be felt in Sudan and Bahrain.
              During the week of January 16-23 of 2011, 122, 319 tweets were sent. This number rose to 1, 317,238 for the week of January 24-30 of 2011. The buzz words were Cairo, Protest, Mubarak, Solidarity, Yemen, Streets, and time. Social media was lending a helping hand to the protestors to organise and mobilise the people. Social media has proved itself a powerful agent for the assertion of, and struggle for, civil rights, cultural identity and political independence, by passing traditional local and national boundaries and controls. Suddenly the events within one country cease to be local and become common knowledge. Networks of sympathisers across the nation, across the continent and across the globe can transmit essential information. Certainly, there is plenty of evidence that in many countries of the world the electronic highway is perceived as a threat to hierarchy and authority; and hegemony itself is undermined.

      Social media may also be used for opportunistic gains by the opposition leaders, who have no other means to mobilize the people. Often illusionary pictures and stories are presented before the people to discredit even an efficient government. Egypt is a very good example of this scenario, as the development and progress of the country under President Hosni Mubarak was highly Cherished, weeks before the beginning of the protests.
             

               Social media, thus, helps to propagate thoughts, events and information. But, once a government is unseated, does social media have any role to play? Does it provide any help in the formation of a new government? Most of the uprising in the recent past has shown that social media cannot provide leadership or help in the formation of new governments. This is because the social media platform is vast and opinions come from scattered sources. Often opposition to a government come from anonymous source. This is done to escape government’s crackdown on the opposition. Hence the country would be left leaderless after the overthrow of the existing regime.
               It would be interesting to observe the future role of social media in government formation, International Relations and Democratic movements. The government may also adopt social media to gain legitimacy. This can be done by spreading awareness and providing a platform to the citizens for free discussion. Hence social media can be both a boon as well as a curse for a government. What is to be seen is the capacity of modern governments to cope with the pace and scope of social media.