[Air-L] ISOC Statement on Egypt¹s Internet shutdown

Peter Timusk ptimusk at sympatico.ca
Mon Jan 31 12:44:01 PST 2011 

A number of my left leaning associates/comrades are watching Al Jazeera an
Arab news network over the net. These would be political digital elites in
the left in the west.

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Peter Timusk B.Math statistics. BA legal studies
Legal studies of the Information Age
Vice President Computers for Communites
School work blog http://notebook.webpagex.org
Some papers www.webpagex.org

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Peaslee, Robert
Sent: January-31-11 12:03 PM
To: joana ro; Edward M. Corrado
Cc: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] ISOC Statement on Egypt¹s Internet shutdown

Could be some of that, Johanna. We sure love our technological determinism
and development theses here in the West.

Not to be lost here, I think, is the decreasing number of on-the-ground
journalists stationed abroad in the era of media downsizing. When the "news
sources" have no correspondent, no B-roll, etc., they tell us what's on
Facebook, Twitter, etc. They don't tell us who's posting in these places,
what expertise or contextual knowledge may or may not support the
posts...but, hey, it's cheap and it fills up space in the hungry 24-hour
news cycle. Even the Beeb is guilty of this at times, though far less often
than American sources.

-rp




On 1/31/11 10:43 AM, "joana ro" <joanaro at googlemail.com> wrote:

I wonder why Western media have overemphaiszed SM's role. What good does
that do them?

Does it simply make the story more accessible for its viewers, give us
something in common? Obviously, it also fits nicely into a story of
emancipation through media/technology - which would be favorable for other
media.

Or is this a subtle way of suggesting that the West and its emancipatory
technologies are somehow responsible for what is happening?

Best,
Johanna

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 5:36 PM, Edward M. Corrado
<ecorrado at ecorrado.us>wrote:

> I haven't done much investigation into this area, but my hunch is, as 
> others have mentioned, that the US (and to some extent European) media 
> has overblown the use of Social Media has played in organizing 
> protests in Egypt and Iran. I do think that, especially in Iran, 
> Social Media played an important role in disseminate information about 
> what was happening to people outside of Iran. I think that may be one 
> of a reasons authorities in Egypt shut the Net and cell phones down -- 
> not necessarily or only because of the role it could have in 
> organizing protests.
>
> Edward
>
> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 10:28 AM, Mathieu ONeil 
> <mathieu.oneil at anu.edu.au> wrote:
> > I sit somewhere in the  middle: its true that on-the-ground activism
> dominates but if Facebook  etc had no impact then why would the 
> authorities shut the Net down along  phones? Journalist accounts out 
> that point out that everyone wants to  "friend" them so in those 
> countries people are getting some info through  those channels. I 
> reckon this is having more impact than "the role of  Twitter in Iran" 
> last year which was indeed largely a projection from  outside though my
evidence is anecdotal at best.
> > cheers
> > Mathieu
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jeremy hunsinger <jeremy at tmttlt.com>
> > Date: Monday, January 31, 2011 4:06 pm
> > Subject: Re: [Air-L] ISOC Statement on Egypt's Internet shutdown
> > To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> >
> >> I think social media has very little to do with this event.  From 
> >> my perspective, it looks very much like 1960s-70s organizational 
> >> patterns.  Television, radio, etc. has some to do with it though.  
> >> I will say that it is likely that social media is being used to 
> >> connect interested transnational elites to some extent, which also 
> >> then drives media attention.
> >>
> >> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 10:01 AM, Richard Forno 
> >> <rforno at infowarrior.org> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > I may end up being labelled a black sheep here, but I find the
> >> US media's infatuation with social media in regard to the Middle 
> >> East protests to be overdone and a distraction for folks in 
> >> understanding the real issues involved in the Arab world..
> >> >
> >> > In terms of SM, people have been organising and protesting in
> >> large numbers all around the world long before the Internet or 
> >> social media came into being --- but watching much of the US "news" 
> >> coverage  one is led to think the Internet is the primary force 
> >> behind the coordination and street-level control of these recent 
> >> gatherings.
> >> >
> >> > IMHO social media is playing a supporting role in all of this.
> >>  Is it helpful?  Sure - but hardly essential.  To wit:  the 
> >> Egyptian gov cut off many modes of communication helpful for social 
> >> media applications, but did it adversely impact the
> >> protests?  Nope.   What does that tell us?
> >> >
> >> > My view is that SM is very helpful 'strategically" in terms of
> >> offering a long-term opportunity for folks to 
> >> communicate/collaborate/organise along shared views/goals/purposes 
> >> -- but less so in terms of "hitting the streets" so to speak.  
> >> Helpful, sure -- but not absolutely necessary.
> >> >
> >> > I'll defer to those who specialise in this stuff to offer more
> >> theoreticaly rooted comments, for I need more caffeine.
> >> >
> >> > -- rick
> >> >
> >
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