Youth Digital Citizenship

After reading this article I was able to better understand the process new generations undergo to come to the decision to up rise against repeated issues. Last week we learned about Khaled Said movement and how that aided in the revolution in Egypt. One of this week’s article focused on how the new generation uses social media as a method of protesting at a global scale. Social media allows the new generation to establish a global presence while staying connected in their present environment.

In Egypt the new generation conducted sit ins and civil protests against the regime that existed in Egypt. Social media played a large role in spreading the horrors that were occurring in the country at the time. For example, a sit in that was conducted could be uploaded to Facebook and shared with millions of people world wide. This is the worlds current method of mass communication and mass exploitation. In comparison to previous generations, the newer generations must assert their rights in a digital sense. This means that from a young age they understand that the world is connected through the web and therefore expression is obtained in the form of social media.

Protesting to the newer generations come in the form of social media exploitation. Long forgotten are the times of physical pretests and mass gatherings to express ideas. The socially connected world has allowed people to express themselves that does not involve traveling, coordination, or courage. It is much easier to post a rant on social media than to physically attend a rally where physical harm might linger. So do you believe that the Revolution would of or would not have happen if social media was not involved? Like Raggal stated, “Revolutions take place first of all in our minds.”

Project Proposal:

I am still trying to figure out what exact to do for the project. I think doing extensive research on a current issue in the Middle East is something that interests me and following it by creating a video addressing the issue. I would also like to see my peers ideas and work with people with similar interests.

 

Revolutions are becoming socially mediated, but is there a hidden agenda behind the technology?

The class readings regarding social media revolutions and the distortion of digital citizenship, really opened my eyes to the harsh reality of Egyptian youth and the expansiveness of media technology. For instance, the way that the youths of Egypt used social medias like Facebook to both reach and inform people, who would never know of or truly understand the atrocities that young people face, in countries that lack human rights for its citizens, is amazing and would probably never occur without the expansive capabilities of the internet. However, I do feel that the youth movement that started “We Are All Khalid Said” (WAAKS) was wrong for their portrayal of Said, as a martyr, to support their politically driven agenda. From my understanding, Said was not an activist of any social movement to overturn Mubarak or to thwart the Emergency Law that plagued the youths of Egypt. He was just a youth, that’s it. A young man who lived in a country that treated its youths, as if they were a burden to society. In some way, WAAKS portrayal of Khaled Said, as a saint who could do no wrong, is similar to how the youths of Egypt are portrayed as a problem to society.

While the youth movements of Egypt gain attention for their means, the reality of what is truly epidemic, that is the marginalization of Egyptian society economically and the current disadvantaged state of both the middle- and lower-classes, are not being addressed. I think that in order for the youth movements to have a greater impact on not only the Egyptian society, but also on societies from around the world, it is important that these digitalized movements address the more rooted problems that have affected the country of Egyptian for centuries, not just recently. It seems as if those who are using digital media to gain attention and inform others, are simply using predominant problems that effect both themselves and a more specified grouping of society. However, my question is if the youth movements in Egypt were to expand their agendas to address the whole of society and the human rights brutalities they all face collectively, would those involved in such movements eventually lose their anonymity and become more susceptible to brutalities against their livelihood, both individually and socially? With this said, one could conclude that the reasoning behind the specificity of the digitalized youth movements, is to the extent to which they can begin to address the many problems that face their society, without feeling personally susceptible to the atrocities their people endure, due to the exploitation of power by the hierarchy.