Information Literacy and Global Citizenship and the Arab Spring

Abstract

Social media, while spurring a sense of global citizenship and increasing the informational literacy of the masses, have also played a very prominent role in shaping political debates in the context of the Arab Spring. Online participation and social-media conversations have greatly influenced major events of the Arab Spring in reality. The spread of democratic ideas and concepts across international boundaries has been severely impacted upon by social media. When Bouazizi engaged in self-immolation, the story of his barbaric style of protest was told and retold many a times in all social media websites Twitter, Face book and even, on YouTube. This aggravated the feelings of protest amongst the citizens, and in their rage and anger, they spread the democratic ideals through staging protests of enormous magnitude and strength. However, a large amount of information that we gathered about the Arab Spring from the media was untrustworthy.

Information Literacy and Global Citizenship and the Arab Spring

Introduction

The recent political proceedings in the North Africa and the Middle East substantially summarize the role of the technological advancements in the dissemination of information and the prevalence of revolts known as the Arab Spring. The political mutiny held between the years 2012 to 2013 raised new hopes and expectations for global citizenship, since the protestors from India to the United States came together to attain supreme democracy from the oppressors while thriving on to their rights for justice and freedom. These protesters surpassed the racial divides, and protested for a common cause. Their religion, cast, gender or even race did not intervene in their desire and actions against the political turmoil taking place. These protestors in the form of distinctive communities joined hands for a common belief while remaining aesthetic in their ideologies.

Discussion and Analysis

Owing to the revolution in technological and innovational spheres, an abundance of information is accessible to everyone. Depending on the source of accessing the information, its reliability however, can be questioned and doubted against. With the advent of a growing number of social media websites such as Face book, Wikileaks and Wikipedia, a lot of accessible information is opinionated and presents a very biased view of subjects. However, such publicly-accessible information has undoubtedly spurred modern-day activism and protests, specifically in the case of the Arab Spring. There are many activists who played a very vital role in the Arab Spring, and sued it as a key tool to express their anger and disagreement in response to the injustices of the government. Being able to share an immense amount of important information through online media sources has entertained the objective of many activists who wished to use the Internet their own way. Through gaining power on these social media websites, these activists were able to challenge the governmental policies regarding dictatorship but also were able to gain the brotherliness from many hidden communities within their reach, who were ready to help these activists in their cause.

Countries like Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt staged protests ...