Social Media In The Jasmine Revolution

Social Media In The Jasmine Revolution The Jasmine Revolution is another name for the Tunisian Revolution, a series of violent protests that began on 18 December 2010 in Tunisia as a form of civil resistance. The revolution was a result of years of corruption, unemployment, poor living conditions, and lack of freedom of speech, facilities, inflation and political freedom. The protests were trigged when Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor, set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 protesting the humiliation inflicted on him by a woman municipal official. This led to a period of great social and political turbulence in Tunisia which eventually led to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been ruling Tunisia since 1987, fleeing the country and officially resigning on 14 January 2011. This uprising in Tunisia led to subsequent revolutions in many Arab countries, popularly known as Arab Spring. Protests began in Egypt which led to fleeing of President Hosni Mubarak, ending his 30 year rule. There was civil war in Libya which led to fleeing and death of the ruler Muhammar Gaddafi, ending his 42 year rule. There were also major uprisings in other parts of the Arab world like Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Iran and Mauritania. There were also protest in other parts of the globe like North Africa and Middle East. Dictator Bel-Alis government had a strong control on various media platforms. Despite great attempts at repressing the protests that were happening in Tunisia, Tunisians used a very powerful tool to make their voices heard social media. The role of social media in the Jasmine Revolution is analysed in this paper. Literature Review In the article Social Media: The New Tool of Revolution by Aditi Malhotra, appeared in CLAWS Publication, she talks about how social networks like Facebook, and Twitter played a very vital role in being about the change during the Arab Spring. She talks about this fire spread from Tunisia to Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. While talking about the Jasmine Revolution in specific, she talks about the media blackout that was present in Tunisia. The government controlled all media platforms and it was the social media who finally was able to make a break through. Millions of people in Tunisia and all over the world were a part of the revolution as pictures and videos of the protests were shared all over the social network. Mohamed Bouazizis self-immolation which triggered the revolution was in fact not one of the first cases of self-immolation in Tunisia, but it was covered by Al Jazzera and other news channels and shown to the entire world. The ar ticle goes on to say how the government did in fact try to stop the flow of information by blocking websites, deleting accounts, arresting bloggers and other active people on the social platform but they were unable to the stop this great force. In another article, The Emerging Role of Social Media in Political and Regime Change by Rita Safranek, published in ProQuest, talks about social media as a major catalyst in bringing about the change in many countries that were going through a major period of political unrest. The author talks about the triggering point of the Jasmine Revolution, the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi was captured by passers-bys and posted and re-posted on YouTube for everyone to see. Furthermore, the mass protests at his funeral also spread quickly and all over. The author goes on say that despite very strict censorship of the internet by Tunisias government, Tunisians were able to emerge as highly connected 33% of the Tunisian population uses the internet, 16% uses Facebook and 18% uses Twitter. Although the government did block YouTube during the crucial period of protests, it was unable to stop experienced bloggers and activists from finding alternate methods like by using private and proxy net works to post and re-post various contents and videos all over the cyber world. In fact, there was an eight percent increase in the number of Facebook users in Tunisia in the beginning of January 2011. The nature of the content being shared also changed with time more content related to the current political situation and unrest was being shared. Although the author credits social media with helping organize the protest and connect activists, she also goes on to say that the social media will not be help with running the country which is the current concern in the country at present. Discussion of the Case The social media Facebook and Twitter might not have caused the Jasmine Revolution but it definitely was a major catalyst in bringing about the change that we see in Tunisia today. Tunisia was always susceptible to an internet-enable revolution considering a good number of Tunisians are internet-savvy, use social media and most of the population uses mobile phones. Although the number of people active on Twitter was not as high, what matters more is who is tweeting, rather than how many people are tweeting. The very first trigger to the revolution, Mohamed Bouazizis self-immolation, created such an upheaval due to the fact that is shared on the social media and which is when it got Al Jazeeras attention which showed it to the world and after which when news channels all over the world started showcasing it. The revolution thus began in the city of Sidi Bouzid, in the interior of the country as a result of the police got violent and the shocking images and content were shared on the Internet. Subsequently, the protest spread to the more the more prosperous parts of the country where activists became more organized and finally when President Ben Ali was ousted and the country was in mayhem, Tunisians used to the help of the social media platforms to organize themselves further to combat the armed forces. The internet and mobile phones were effectively used to inform places where the security forces were being deployed and where the next protest would be. Facebook was used to share the latest news regarding the protests and images of the governments brutality against the citizens. 75% of Facebook users were 18-24 years of age. Tunisians used Facebook to update their friends and families about the current situations on their cities and villages. Many Facebook users changed their profile picture to the symbol of the democratic revolt showing images of camaraderie. Twitter was also a major platform for the people to voice their sentiments. Tweets were dominated by the tag #bouazizi, subsequently, the day the President was ousted, #sidibouzid was most used hash tag and finally the whole country became consumed with #tunisia. In total, there were 196,000 mentions of Tunisia, which reached 26 million Twitter users all over the world. Television also became a part of the revolution. Even though the domestic channels were heavily-censored by Ben Alis regime, the cable channel, Al Jazeera began broadcasting videos that were being shared on the internet. This helped in spreading the revolution from the younger demographics were techno-savvy to the older demographics. This helped in making the movement bigger and more active. Instances of brutality by the police and officials became more and more public which generated even more rebellion in the Tunisians. An aspect where social media helped was creating some order and organization to the chaos. Rumours and misinformation could be easily corrected and passed on using social media. Activists could use this platform to create calm and counter people who were taking advantage of the situation in order to create terror. Another aspect of that played a significant role was the spread of music on the social media platform. Hamada Ben Amor, a.k.a. El General performed a song Rais Lebled which became a sort of revolution anthem for the young protestors of Tunisia. Hamada Ben Amor was one of the most popular Tunisian Internet rap artists. The lyrics of the song talked about oppression and poverty and considering the fact that rap was banned; the song became an even more major symbol of youth rebellion. The song was shared only on Facebook, which made it even more exclusive. After the President fled from the country, the song was aired on Tunisian television for everyone to hear. Since then El General wrote a new rap song, Vive Tunisie! as a tribute to the protestors of not only the Jasmine Revolution, but also of many other Arab countries were revolutions took place like Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Algeria. Analysis and Conclusion Social media indeed was a major enabler of the Jasmine Revolution. In fact, it has also gone to be a similar catalyst in many more uprising to follow in the Arab world. It will continue to play a major role in political change as it easy to access and difficult to control. The authoritative governments cannot control the social media the way they can control the traditional media. Social media enable the chance to organize even when surrounded by utter chaos. Social media also helps achieve something major connection with the outer world. It is easy for the authoritative government to ban or censor various traditional media platforms thus influencing the kinds of news that is outside world hears. But using social media which is hard to censor or ban, such a restriction is impossible. The real picture of what is going on in the country can be portrayed to the world. This can enable to country in question get outside help and support which will only strengthen the entire movement. The interesting characteristic of an internet-enabled movement is the flat structure. The movement is not led by one particular person organization. It thus seizes to have a hierarchy. Anybody, of any age group, size, colour or gender can be an integral part of this movement and nothing can break down this flatness.

Man is like a fraction

Man Is like a fraction whose numerator Is what he Is and whose denominator is what he thinks. The greater the denominator, the lesser the fraction. † -Lev Tolstoy We should take note that in a fraction, as the denominator becomes larger, the value of the traction becomes lesser. Man is also like a traction as what Lev Tolstoy said in his quotation. Life Is full of choices, full of situations. Where sometimes all our way to run away is by pretending, Pretending is one way of escaping. In my life, I have met people who are pretentious. I don't understand why they are like that.Why o people appear to be something theyre not? Does it make them feel better about themselves or does It make them have something to hide behind? People feel that if they can lead a life that isnt their own and be pulled along by someone else they may be able to achieve better things. Therefore, hiding behind masks makes people lives a lot easier, they don't have to face up to doing something wrong. The ap pearance of being greater than you are has led to many unfortunate happening in the world around us. Nevertheless it shows us how appearing to be something you're not, can become your reality and even the world's reality.We need to be less influenced by the world around us. Reality is hard to find as people are working their way around It, forcing themselves to appear to be something they're not. If we feel that we can get ahead by doing this then we should realize that we will only get hurt. Let us not be a person who sees himself larger than who he really is. Iva Rhiana C. Santiago LG 4218 APOLLONIUS OF PERGA As what I have researched, Apollonius ot Perga was a Greek geometer and astronomer noted for his writings in the conic section. It was him who gave the ellipse. the parabola, and the hyperbola the names by which we know them.And these things are our lessons this term. The work of Apollonius of Perga has had such a great impact on the development of mathematics, that he is kno wn as â€Å"The Great Geometer†. In fact, in his book Conics he Introduces terms, such as parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola that are still used today. Apollonius also was an important person in founding Greek mathematical astronomy. He used geometrical models to explain planetary theory. He made a lot of contributions In his times that until now we are benefiting from them. We are still learning from them. He did his work very well.He was able to help many people nowadays even f he existed a long, long time ago. His contributions to mathematics helped many people to become very good like him. Mathematician like ‘Of2 Apolllonlus 0T Perga makes numerous contrl learn and it helped me a lot. Iva Rhiana C. Santiago 4218 The Importance Of Saving outlons. HIS conlcs Tor me were easy to For me, teenagers or children nowadays should learn how to save money since young. Saving money helps to lessen the heavy responsibility of our parents as what I have observed. We can also buy th eir own items without asking money from our parents.Saving money also helps us to be more independent. Although I did not complete the required number of weeks I have to deposit, I think I was only able to deposit four times out of eight weeks, I am lucky to learn a lesson from this. I can benefit from saving money at young age. I realized that after high school, college is expensive and then â€Å"real† life begins, with expenses such as food and rent. If I can hold onto a good portion of the money I earned as a teen, going to college and buying a house will be much easier. The earlier I will begin saving, the more time the money has to grow.

Labor Practices Paper Essay

Many companies are using sweat shops to manufacture their products at a much cheaper cost. However, there is a much deeper cost of using sweat shops then what can be placed in monetary value. I think it is time people begin to consider what sweat shops are doing to the people in this world and how dangerous they can be. Sweat shops may save companies money, but you do not want your company exposed on the news because your sweat shop in Bangladesh caught fire and killed 1,000 employees because fire safety regulations were not met. Sweat shops are used to describe a subcontracting system where the middle man earns profits from the margin between what they were paid and what they paid out to their workers. That margin is referred to be sweated from the employees due to them receiving minimal pay, working long excessive hours, and in unsafe, hazardous working conditions. Companies will find smaller, poorer countries that have little to no regulations as far as safety and pay go to establish these sweat shops in. They pay their employees as much in a month as what many of us would make in a day. They are also forced to work extensively long hours in conditions that are extremely hazardous to their health. There are a high number of easily preventable deaths every year due to these sweat shops not meeting safety and health regulations. The contractors and managers of these establishments are also notorious for  being highly abusive to their employees both mentally and physically. They would also target women and children for employment in sweat shops as they were manipulated much more easily than men. Also, they were much less likely to retaliate against the managers. Sweat shops often force people into working in these conditions. The people have no choice but to do so as they have families to take care of and without these sweat shops work would be placed elsewhere leaving them without any work at all. Many companies, especially in the clothing industry, are using these sweat shops to increase profits, lower cost to customer, and compete with other companies. Consumers still buy into the product regardless that it is made in such a dangerous environment where people lose their lives. There was an approximate total of 1,500 sweat shop garment worker deaths in 2012. However, companies are still using sweat shops because it does not affect the consumer’s choice to buy their product, their prices are decreased, and they are selling more product. Larger corporations and companies in other countries have paved the way for sweat shops. Other companies are beginning to play a hand in this as they are looking for ways to compete with the companies already doing so. Companies in other countries can easily influence other companies into placing sweat shops in their locations due to minimum safety and labor law requirements. Consumers should seriously consider researching the products you use and determining where they come from, how they were made, and what type of environment were they made in. Consumers should then stop purchasing items made from those companies using sweat shops to produce their product. Do you really think the shirt your wearing was worth 1,500 people dying in 2012? Laws should also be implemented that hold these companies responsible for these workers wages and working conditions. It is the contractor’s responsibility to do this so companies can easily hide behind these contractors. By enforcing these laws we would significantly reduce this problem. Companies still may chose to manufacture their product in another country but those workers would now be receiving adequate pay along with a  safe work environment without the long, extensive hours. In 1999, California passed Assembly Bill 633, which is a law that holds garment manufacturers and retailers responsible for employee wages and safety. I think it is understandable why companies chose to do this as they are trying to save money, however this can still be done without the use of sweat shops. Products can still be manufactured at a lower cost in other countries without forcing employees to work for inadequate pay and in unsafe conditions working long exhausting hours. Major retailers could really get the ball rolling for reducing the amount of sweat shops used. Smaller companies and the competition would no longer have to resort to sweat shops if they were able to compete with these major corporations that do use them. So, we should keep in mind next time we are clothes shopping at the mall. We should consider what products may have resulted in someone losing their life to manufacture. It’s true, sweat shops reduce costs. However, like I said at the beginning of this paper, it is a cost that cuts much deeper than anything that can be placed into monetary value. References: http://www.laborrights.org/industries/apparel https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nshah/fashioncrimes/Sweatshops.html

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Essay

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