Arab Spring and Social Media

What the Arab Spring Taught Journalists About Social Media in 2011

December 21, 2011 by International Journalists' Network

Uprisings in the Middle East have forced Arab media to reinvent itself and proved that citizen journalists provide valuable news coverage.

Here are IJNet’s picks for top five media trends from our stories during this tumultuous year.

·         The balance between traditional and new media has tipped in favor of social media and citizen journalists. No longer can traditional media outlets ignore citizen journalists, “amateur videos” on YouTube or information streaming in from other social media platforms. To wit, more journalism professionals in the region are using social media to engage their audience in new ways.

·         More social media-friendly content are being produced to cover news and events in the region, thanks in part to HTML5. HTML5 video facilitates posting more videos and pictures as well as making them more accessible since videos can be inserted with just a tag on many websites.

·         Social media has stepped up to defend press freedom as well as more general freedoms. In countries like Morocco, social media has become the fifth estate since traditional media haven’t been able to play its role.

·         Traditional journalists in Middle East need to gain the public trust, especially with since young people “have a little time and respect for their press,” asserts Rami G. Khouri, who works at the American University of Beirut.

·         Social media activism is the arm of revolutionaries. Most Arab countries had very few pro-government social media activists; Bahrain has the most, probably because 90% of Internet users there have a broadband Internet connection.

http://mashable.com/2011/12/21/arab-spring-lessons/