From tweets to tangible change: Social media's potential in achieving global social justice

Social media time and time again has proven to be a space that empowers and inspires. A sanctuary where people in fear feel safe to tell their stories, and no longer have to suffer silently. 

In this way, social media acts as a global magnifying glass, drawing attention to the wrongdoings occurring in pockets of the world we are not routinely exposed to. The spreading of awareness regarding injustice is guaranteed when it comes to social media, but what is not guaranteed is that this sharing will lead to tangible, long-term change. What I mean by this is that sometimes the momentum of these movements is strong enough to free oppressed groups of people, overthrow corrupt governments, and give power back to citizens. But, in some cases, the start of the movement is strong yet dies down over time before any real change can occur, acting like a tease of what could have been.

Below we will be analyzing an impactful global movement, the Arab Spring, and identify the potential of social media in achieving social justice in real time. For some regions, this was achieved and highly successful, for others, a high death toll and further corruption took the place of the government’s previous makeup. Needless to say, what worked for some, unfortunately, did not work for all. 

The Catalyst of the Movement

The Arab Spring was unique in how it catalyzed, showing the extremity of unemployment rates due to a more than two-decade authoritarian rule in Tunisia. 

A short video explained the story of one Tunisian citizen in particular, Mohamed Bouazizi, who was unable to find work yet still needed to make ends meet. On December 17th, 2010, Bouazizi was selling vegetables in an unlicensed cart when local officials approached him and confiscated everything he had. Bouazizi tried to fight back and file reports of harassment, but no one would hear him out, so he protested by setting himself on fire outside a local government office.

This was the ultimate showcase of the collective outcry of citizens demanding significant change, triggering mass protests with activists who had not one, but two things in hand, a sign and their mobile phones. The video coverage of these protests is what accelerated the movement worldwide, with the mass support received leading to the collapse of the Tunisian government on January 11, 2011.

This movement inspired others in nearby regions struggling with similar hopelessness due to mass oppression, igniting protests by inspired citizens in Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, and Sudan among others. The results included Egypt’s president stepping down, Yemen’s government being overthrown, as well as the overthrowing of Libya’s dictatorship.

For some areas, this gave hope and opportunity for paving new lives, for others like Syria, this was the start of further exploitation of citizens. This was due to extremist religious groups such as ISIS who stepped in place of absent governments, making it just as horrible for citizens, if not worse than it was before. These groups utilized terrorism to scare citizens into cooperating, leading to high death tolls and a huge refugee crisis.

The vast differences in outcomes for each region truly proved how complicated revolutions are, and shed light on all of the factors that go into successfully promoting justice in the makeups of governments and societies. 

Tangible Change Factors

The online exchanges surrounding the Arab Spring were concentrated on the Twitter platform due to its conversational nature. 

A study conducted regarding the uses of Twitter in Egypt and Libya during the Arab Spring movement found that the use of the platform differed per region and offered insight into the factors that caused this phenomenon. The study specifically looked at language barriers and the role they played in the effective spreading of information and personal narratives as well as the possible limitations they posed.

At first, censorship posed issues in both areas with Egyptian and Libyan governments attempting to block domestic Internet access. In time, workarounds were found, and videos of protests and injustices were uploaded online to Twitter. This was accelerated due to the use of hashtags which allowed a democratic, collective view of posts generated by people from various backgrounds. In addition, a tool called Speak2Tweet, provided by Google and Twitter, opened doors for non-English speakers to contribute to the hashtag conversation by calling an international telephone number and leaving a voice message, which was then turned into a tweet that was accompanied by the #egypt hashtag. In addition, to further aid in bridging language barriers during this time, many blogs regarding the topic were written in both Arabic and English to ensure inclusivity.

During the first month of the movement, efforts were strong with a significant number of non-Arabic-speaking users as well as Arabic-speaking users participating in the online conversation. However, the study uncovered that non-Arabic-speaking users’ interest in the overall movement dissipated as it moved more toward a revolution and long-term effort. Therefore, the middle of the movement in Egypt mostly consisted of Egyptian locals. This showcases a major factor in global movements which is that the more direct interest a user has, the more likely they are to move forward with the movement. On the contrary, if a user does not live in or have a personal connection to the area, the more likely it is that their participation dies down long-term. This then gives weight to the hypothesis that many English speakers may have only been attracted to the #egypt discussion because of how popular and trendy it was at the time.

While looking at the movement in Libya, something interesting was witnessed. More non-Arabic, English-speaking users participated in the online movement, making Twitter itself more used by onlookers outside of the country. This poses an issue because if an individual is not directly experiencing a global conflict, how do we know they are reporting accurate information? This is also problematic because non-Arabic speaking users were more likely than Arabic-speaking user users to withdraw from the movement long-term, so the fact that the makeup of the online discussion surrounding #libya was mostly outside individuals, means that the longevity of the movement was doomed from the start.

The Potential of Social Media

So, with all of this information in mind, let’s tackle the question: Can social media be utilized to bring about justice and even topple oppressive and corrupt systems?

The answer is complex and dual-toned. In a sense, yes, social media can bring about justice and topple existing oppressive and corrupt systems through mobilized support and awareness. However, the limitations lie in the fact that social media cannot promise this trajectory long-term and also cannot ensure that better existing systems will take the place of pre-existing corrupt ones. In some cases, regarding the example of the Arab Spring, after initial promising change, many regions went back to their old ways of ruling after a couple of years.

An article looking at the legacy of these uprisings depicts each region from 2010-2020 to identify the tangible long-lasting impacts of the movements. The article finds that in terms of Egypt and Libya, the two regions only had short periods of democratic progress. It also states that Egypt was shortly ruled by Islamic parties and then transitioned to another authoritarian rule, while Libya spiraled into a full-scale civil war. In addition, the standard of living has since fallen in Libya, issues of freedom of the press have reached a high in Egypt, and there is a rise in high rates of youth unemployment in both areas.

Looking and reflecting upon this timeline, it seems that not much has changed long term. This drives me to strongly believe that although social media platforms such as Twitter play a vital role in the catalyzation of global movements, they are not equipped with the tools or resources necessary to fund them long-term. It is frustrating because these platforms have so much potential to drive real change, there just needs to be many more innovations before we can get there. To truly tackle injustice we need to find new ways to drive engagement long-term, pave paths for struggling voices to be heard, and truly dedicate features on social media to facilitate and strengthen social justice initiatives.

Hi there! I’m Madison Morris.

I am a creative public relations and marketing strategist looking to make my mark on the communications industry.

I have a love for cultivating and facilitating relationships and a strong passion for uncovering growth opportunities. Let's work together to help your business thrive!