This essay is about a debate-session on online activism in the Middle East during the Night of Peace, organized by IKV Pax Christi on the 21st of September 2009 in Club Odeon, Amsterdam. It was written with Emil Pepic for Zeytun, an initiative for durable academic exchange between the Netherlands and the Middle East for students of political science, international relations and diplomacy.
Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, Twitter and MSN Messenger: it is hard to believe we ever did without our accounts. To ‘log in’ has become as normal an action for us as to open a door. Today, social media are used as extensively in the Middle Wast as in the West. In a region dominated by repressive regimes, social media seem to provide citizens with an easy and fast way to express themselves and to communicate with each other. But how significant is this online communication for undertaking real action and bringing about real political change? We asked two bloggers and activists from the Middle East during a debate on social media on the 21st of September in Amsterdam.
Read more on www.zeytun.org
Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, Twitter and MSN Messenger: it is hard to believe we ever did without our accounts. To ‘log in’ has become as normal an action for us as to open a door. Today, social media are used as extensively in the Middle Wast as in the West. In a region dominated by repressive regimes, social media seem to provide citizens with an easy and fast way to express themselves and to communicate with each other. But how significant is this online communication for undertaking real action and bringing about real political change? We asked two bloggers and activists from the Middle East during a debate on social media on the 21st of September in Amsterdam.
Read more on www.zeytun.org
