Research Topic
Egyptians and the rest of the world will remember 2011 as a year when this country experienced major changes in its political arena (Lynch 2013). This proposal will investigate how demonstrators used Facebook and Twitter to communicate with their members, Egyptian leadership, and the international community. This topic is interesting because there is a need to examine how and why social media had significant impacts on the success of the revolution.
Research Questions
How were the messages coded to influence the behavior of demonstrators? The secondary questions that will be answered by the research include the following. What did the government do to regulate the freedom of speech and expression through social media during the uprising? It will examine the communication strategies employed by social media experts to magnify the evils of the ruling regime to warrant its expulsion from power. It will find out the future of social media in the political future of this country.
Research Hypothesis
The 2011 Egypt Revolution was a resounding success for demonstrators because they used social media to unite, communicate and plan protests. Governments have little or no control over social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, and this makes them a very powerful tool for influencing human behaviour.
Theoretical Perspectives
Manuel Castells’s Network Society Theory will be used to explain how demonstrators from different regions used Facebook and Twitter to plan, meet and execute their strategies (Biagi 2012). Byron Hawk’s presentation of the New Media Theory will help this research in analysing the impacts of modern communication in promoting efficiency and urgency of delivering information. The Social Movement Theory advanced by Alberto Bellucci will help the researcher to evaluate the contributions of technology in fostering solidarity amongst members facing similar predicaments (Kadushin 2011).
Literature Review
The research paper will use theoretical perspectives and review the literature provided by Catherine O’Donnell (New Study Quantifies Use of Social Media in the Arab Spring). This author conducted research and provided information about the effects of social media in influencing the success of Egypt Revolution.
Research Methods
People that understand Egypt’s history will be interviewed to understand why Egyptians wanted to change their leadership. Information will be obtained from online sources and literature submitted by researchers in this field. Video clips and speeches obtained from various sites and libraries will also be analysed to offer information on this research topic.
These methods are appropriate because the information obtained through them was collected from different scenes during the revolution; therefore, the data provided is reliable and accurate. The researcher is planning to collect raw data from different websites. Permission will be obtained from relevant authorities by writing emails to them and requesting to use their data for academic purposes. Data analysis techniques will include selecting an appropriate sample population and examining its use of social media. In addition, it will include comparing information obtained from different websites, books or articles to ensure there are consistency and accuracy of data. Lastly, it will involve using the information obtained to test the hypotheses formulated.
References
Biagi, S 2012, Media Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media, Cengage Learning, New York.
Kadushin, C 2011. Understanding Social Networks: Theories, Concepts, and Findings, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Lynch, M 2013. The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East, PublicAffairs, New York.