Digital Media and Identity in the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities

Description

The Arab Spring has raised important questions about the impact of social media and blogging on politics in authoritarian states. This paper examines the impact of social media and blogging through the prism of identity and identity politics, arguing that social media allowed for the creation of a new activist identity in Egypt, one that allowed a small but committed group of activists to organize dissent and press for changes to the Egyptian political system. These activists were able to work together to promote the issues of human rights that were most important in the Egyptian uprising, using the properties of the social media tools to great effect. Furthermore, the paper argues that the spread of social media might have other effects on identities in Egypt and the broader Arab world, including diaspora communities, transnational social and political movements, and Arab nationalism.