[Air-L] Arab spring & social media evidence

[Alex Halavais]

I think any "cause-effect model" for any large-scale social phenomenon
is sketchy, and I also think popular discourse loves such
simplification. That is to say, I don't think "This Caused That" is
something that evidence could directly demonstrate or refute (or even
"refudiate" ;).

That said, I've been reading Philip Howard's new book, "The Digital
Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy," which is quite good, and
provides something of a discussion of this question in its
conclusions, and suggests that ICTs can play an important part in a
"causal recipe" for democratization of Muslim states.

- Alex


On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 1:52 PM, nativebuddha <nativebuddha at gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anyone have evidence (or links to studies) that show the impact, or
> lack thereof, of social media on the Arab spring? This cause-effect model
> still circulates in the mediasphere, but what is the evidence show?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Robert
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