Twitter, Facebook, and Global Revolution

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The article “Social media: Did Twitter and Facebook really build a global revolution?” was published in the online newspaper website called the Christian Science Monitor by correspondent Jina Moore. This article appraised the role of the two popular social networks websites called Facebook and Twitter in toppling autocratic governments. Moore relied on the wave of uprising in the Middle East as examples to justify that Twitter and Facebook might have helped in bringing the people together on a common goal but there are several ways in which the effectiveness of these websites in solely infusing a revolution is questionable. This article incorporated a versatile research with a good organization which yielded support to the reasoning of the author however the author’s vague introduction lessened the impact of an otherwise commendable article.

Moore began her article by citing countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya as hostages of imminent revolution sparked by people through Facebook and Twitter. Moore followed by taking a contradictory view by arguing that even though analyst describe the role of social media as “organizing tools and as broadcasting platforms”, the latter has been predominantly utilized since other online activities such as the use of blogs in Tunisia helped more in “pushing events forward”. Moore further demeaned social media by claiming that without an “offline activity” any online movement is doomed to failure as the case in China and that past revolutions had sprung up successfully using other media sources such as the use of pamphlets during American Revolution. According to Moore, Government’s control of the cyber space also inhibits the intensity of a revolution. The article ended with the impression...

... middle of paper ...

...rengthening the purpose of the author such as the use of effective research and constructing relevance to the reader. However the article could further be improved if there could be a thesis statement or just a clear phrase that could keep the readers informed on what the author will follow in the article. Although Moore has used sufficient research, she could have mentioned the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela led by Hugo Chavez. This is the most valid and exemplary evidence of a successful revolution that ever occurred in the 21st century without the use of any media. This upholds the idea that revolutions don’t need Twitter or Facebook, it is in fact the might of the people that eventually overcomes injustice.

Works Cited

Moore, Jina. “Did Twitter and Facebook really build a global revolution?”. csmonitor.com 30 Jun. 2011. Web. 9 Aug. 2014.

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