The current digitalized era continues to see the magic of technology that is governing almost every aspect of life. From shopping to business transactions, everything is now a matter of few clicks. The advent of cell phones, tablets and other gadgets have converged the various forms of media to be easily accessible which serves the purpose of information, education and entertainment. While talking about the various forms of media, the current mode which is seen to host a lot of power is the internet merely because of the fact that it is not only a source of accessing information, but it is also a medium whereby which people can express their views. Considering its association with the real world, internet’s contribution in the progress of a society is often tinted by its harmful effect. In other words, while at one hand internet has filled the spatial gap between people and organizations by also contributing in the enhancement of a civil society, internet contains a major chunk of spurious content that worries people and the mass media. Despite the Utopia and Dystopia look, internet is a form of media that has progressed to exercise control and power over people by shaping their opinions, choices, preferences and decisions.
The evolution of technology has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way it has changed the form of information that is put across by the media. Until 1980s, media depended upon the traditional medium of television and radio to communicate and puts its message across. However, the last 25 years have undergone a shift where the old media has transformed into computer games and the internet. Also, the previous imagery has now taken a better form as conspicuous through programs such as Adobe Photoshop (Safranek, 2012). Similarly, publications have taken the form of online journals paving its way to a channel that brings together the various forms of media. Similar to the gradual progress of media which has eventually taken a strong form in terms of the internet, the social media is also seen to be an integral part of the internet that has decisive powers. Tracing its roots, Facebook; a popular social network, was created by Mark Zukerberg in 2004 (Safranek, 2012). Although it was initially created for providing a platform to connect students across different grades and educational institutes, statistics show that in 2012, Facebook accounted for almost 845 million active users across the globe. In a similar way, founded in 2006, Twitter is another example of the social media which is used to exchange messages, pictures and videos whereas Youtube is a forum renowned for video content (Safranek, 2012). As a matter of fact, the real charm in these social networking sites is based on the idea that it requires no experience, no qualification and no special rank. Uploading videos on Youtube and using them on a blog, or updating a Facebook status by embedding a Twitter message, can also be done today. In this way, the social media makes it possible to connect a wide population via an easy and inexpensive mode. Apart from the reconstitution of social relationships and ways of interaction for the youth, the social media has a lot in there for the politicians, activists and regimes. Considering the penetration of the internet, the social media has ultimately made the power of the state quite porous where complete control and scrutiny cannot be exercised. This results in a new relationship between the internet, politics and the public. In this way, the digital technology plays a significant role in the formation of campaigns, movements and other organizations. In addition, the social media along with several other facets of the internet foster political discussions, election campaigns, and other such valuable events which are a key to social change. In contrast, there are several studies and critics which propose the weaknesses that ultimately undermine the role of social media in bringing a positive change or playing a part in revolution. For instance, critics such as Malcolm Gladwell is of the opinion that social media does foster participation by connecting people, but it tends to miss out on the important aspect of motivation which is the key for participation. He also states that such type of participation does not cause great changes which were specifically seen during the civil rights movement as in USA during 1960s (Safranek, 2012). Therefore, apart from the ineffectiveness of the social media, critics also enumerate the role of repressive governments that is also actively participating on the social forum to lower dissent. Since real big revolutions require strong connections with each other, the use of social media to bring about a political change often loses value because of its inability to work in high risk situations. In this regard, there are several examples which help validate the claim made by the opponents. For instance, the street protestors who got together in Belarus in 2006 against President Lukashenko via a campaign email had to deal with the President’s strict measures against social media. Similarly, in 2010, the tech savvy public occupied the downtown of Bangkok but had to eventually face serious repercussions from the Thai government which killed several protestors. On contrary, the role of internet especially the social media in bringing about a revolution in the shape of Arab Spring is amongst the most noticeable and advantageous impact of social media in shaping political opinion and in persuading people to stand up and fight for their rights. Regardless of the facts like Iran has limited Internet users and only 21 percent of the Egyptians use the internet, the role of internet in the case of Tunisia, in bringing down the government of Hosni Mubarak and in overthrowing several other governments reflect the power of the internet when it comes to politics (Safranek, 2012).
The political issue of Arab uprising has been widely researched and reported by many scholars, journalists, and critics. To address the issue, this paper aims at comparing the different types of news article which will not only help outline the contradictions and similarities in regard to the facts stated, but will also provide the ways in which news stories are reported. For instance, the persuasive news article by Robert Marquand (2011) titled as ‘At the heart of the Arab revolts: a search for dignity’, captures the attention of the reader from the beginning. The use of phrases such as social media, repression and unemployment to define the determinants of Arab Spring clearly frame the numerous reasons of the revolution in comprehensive terms. The news article tends to integrate a number of different issues pertaining to the Arab uprising. It does not only repeat the already known situational facts about the event, but it validates the story by mentioning true statements put forward by noticeable scholars and leaders. For instance, apart from stating the opinion of Libyan ruler Qaddafi, it also quotes the US secretary of the State who has considered the Arab movement as a universal fight for standing for human dignity and respect (Marquand, 2011). In contrast, the news story titled as ‘Syria’s cyber wars: using social media against dissent’ by Mark Clayton (2012), is objective in the sense of its logical presentation of facts. The article does not contain any personal assumption and statements which reduces the biasness of the story thereby enhancing its authenticity enabling readers to believe more on what is being said. By emphasizing on the role of social media and the internet in Arab uprising, the article lists the threats posed by the internet towards a political change with respect to Syria and the current Syrian government measures (Clayton, 2012). In this regard, Clayton (2012) talks about the ‘Syrian Revolution’ Facebook page, which observed a drastic increase of fans over a small amount of time. By stating figures such as the increase in the number of fans from 41,000 observed in 2011 to 438, 000 in 2012, the writer has added credibility to the news story. Moreover, incorporating statements from cyberspace activists such as Richard Zaluski of Center for Strategic Cyberspace and Security Science and Mediapolicy.org which talk about the role played by Social media in revolting against the Syrian monopoly and the measures taken by Syrian government to restrict internet access, reduces the skepticism dwelling in the minds of the readers (Clayton, 2012). On the other hand, although the article by Robert Marquand (2011) revolves around one central idea of maintaining human respect and identity, the news story by Clayton (2012) is objective on the basis of the fact that the article presents the two sides of the story; the ways social media brought a political and a social change, and the manner in which the control over the internet could stop an uprising. Therefore, the news story has encompassed all the angles of the issue thereby making it detailed by refraining from misleading its readers (Clayton, 2012).
Furthermore, the news article by Moore et al. (2011) undertakes an informative approach where the reporter has coherently supported the reality of Arab revolution by mentioning the views of important people. In other words, the news article titled as ‘Social media day: Did Twitter and Facebook really build a global revolution?’ authenticates the movement by incorporating the view of a representative of the Libyan Youth Movement who considers the social media to play a very important role in the uprising especially in the case of Libya and says that without it, the movement would have been delayed. Although Robert Marquand (2011) has also presented a number of facts in his articles, the flowing list of quotes, figures and opinions in the news story presented by Moore et al. (2011) has made the article more informative as it is aimed towards spreading awareness. This is evident from the idea that the article states the role of social media in bringing a revolution. Not only this, the article also emphasizes upon the history of the online media (internet) which has long been an influential force in shaping opinions and bringing change. In this regard, Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices Online says that it is not only the current spell of Facebook and Twitter that contributes in politics, instead other online activities such as blogging that has reached the peak since 2000- 2001, also plays a significant role in influencing the public. Therefore, apart from Facebook and Twitter, it was a well known Tunisian blog which pushed things forward in the case of the Arab world. The function of blogs has also been stressed upon in the news article by Robert Marquand (2011) which draws light upon pages such as ‘I am Arab’ and the new political phrases that are being framed and communicated via blogs. As a matter of fact, Robert Marquand (2011) has framed his article in a captivating way by uniquely presenting the facts by including a mixture of history and the current events. Talking about French Revolution while framing a story around Arab uprising, the reporter has intelligently outlined the core message of dignity and human rights lying at the centre of these events. He achieves the purpose of delivering the message of the importance of fighting for rights and standing against the wrong by using facts which compares a number of events on the same grounds and by stating the words of leaders and officials. The use of interesting slogans such as bread, liberty and dignity has a motivating effect on the readers which persuade them to relate to the incident by holding similar opinions regarding safeguarding the rights of masses. Every paragraph caters to the central idea of fighting for human rights by the medium of different uprisings with special emphasis on Arab spring. Not only this, the reporter has smartly formulated a news story that would attract readers of all the age groups by not only appealing on humanity ground, but by also mentioning the role of the internet to encourage the youth and listing facts to captivate adults (Marquand, 2011). On contrary, although Moore et al. (2011) has also explicitly included authentic messages and statements from officials by in depth analysis of the issue, it is slightly less persuasive than the appeal of the news story by Robert Marquand (2011). Regardless of this, the article has depicted an accurate picture of the positive as well as the negative side of the social media. This is seen by the idea that the reporter talks about numerous pictures posted by Flicker regarding the Arab Spring along with the communication that took place through the blogs and social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Examples such as the online reaction to Khalid Said’s murder in 2010 and overthrowing the government are mentioned in detail in order to examine the impact of social media in bringing a political and a social change. In the similar way, like any other precisely informative news story, the article presented by Moore et al. (2011) has also analyzed the ways in which Chinese and Syrian government is monitoring, tracking and blocking websites to stop an uprising. Evaluating the two sides of the coin makes the news article more logical, explanatory and authentic thereby fulfilling the key techniques of spreading awareness as per the functions of an informative article.
Media has power to shape public opinion and preferences. When it comes to politics, a political campaign or a political view that is advertised on the media or discussed online, restores great power to impact public decisions. This is evident from the election campaigns, the associated jingles used, the symbols taken by political parties and the videos shared all have great power to influence minds. In addition, stating facts and figures, uploading true videos as in the case of the recent Pakistani elections (2013) where rigging videos were posted on the social media; plays a significant role in persuading people to have an opinion and a view that is being propagated by the media (Tisdall, 2013). Although there are a number of factors such as education and knowledge that also play a part when it comes to governing political views, persuasion continues to be an art that is often exploited by the media and the political parties to achieve what they want. This is also evident from the facts stated in the articles which have been analyzed in the paper. Using statements from officials, stating figures of internet users that have overthrown the government are all persuasive techniques which not only target the internet users to stand up for their rights, but it also enables them to realize the power of the social media and the change it can cause. At the same time the articles such as demonstrate the strength of the government that monitors and scrutinizes the internet activities of individuals thereby conveying the message that the previous uprisings cause by the internet is no longer easy to work upon (Zetter, 2008).
Thus, political persuasion is an art that is smartly used and implemented to achieve the motives of the political parties and the government. One of the greatest forms of political persuasion is media where the current strength resides with the internet. However, to reduce vulnerability to political persuasion, the masses must concentrate on the credibility of the information that is being communicated to them. With the current age of media explosion, the easier exchange of knowledge and communication has open the path of discrepancies and fake content that is used to exploit people. With a strong personal vision along with believing and responding to authentic news would automatically reduce the vulnerability towards political persuasion that would result in a smarter public which would take better decisions and stand for the right.
REFERENCES
Clayton, M. (2012, July 25). Syria’s cyberwars: using social media against dissent. Christian Science Monitor. p. N.PAG
Marquand, R. (2011, March 3). At the heart of the Arab revolts: a search for dignity. Christian Science Monitor. p. N.PAG
Moore, J., Ford, P., Lynch, S., Delaney, M., & Montlake, S. (2011, June 20). Social media day: Did Twitter and Facebook really build a global revolution? Christian Science Monitor. P. N. PAG.
Safranek, R. (2012). The emerging role of social media in political and regime change. Proquest, 1-14. Web.
Tisdall, S. (2013, May 2). A guide to the Pakistan election. Theguradian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/02/guide-to-the-pakistan-election
Zetter, L. (2008). Lobbying: The art of political persuasion. Britain: Athenaeum Press Limited, Tyne & Wear
