arab-spring

From The Conversation, written by Vincent F. Hendricks, University of Copenhagen

In the age of information, we no longer need to leave the house to shape democracy. We’re heading towards a world in which the traditional sites of protest are sitting alongside online forums, which are becoming an extremely powerful democratic tool.

Recent events around the globe have amply demonstrated that one person’s revolution is another’s coup.

What role did social media play in the Arab Spring? Cyberskeptics and cyberoptimists alike debate the degree to which the 2010-2011 revolutions in Arab countries were powered by social platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Since the beginning of the 2011 Arab Spring, observers have been examining the various underlying factors that may have helped fuel revolution and unrest across North Africa and the Middle East. One of the factors frequently cited is the unusually high rate of youth unemployment throughout the region.