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> some of the most transformative global popular movements in recent times. E.g. Arab Spring In what exactly was the Arab Spring successful? As a show-case for

> some of the most transformative global popular movements in recent times. E.g. Arab Spring In what exactly was the Arab Spring successful? As a show-case for how far-reaching, and heavily, American social media can influence even rather foreign cultures? [0] [1] Most of the places impacted by this "spring", are nowadays worse off than they were 10 years ago. [0] http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-ope... [1] https://www.france24.com/en/20110203-syria-democracy-protests-facebook-twitter-friday-prayers-egypt https://www.france24.com/en/20110203-syria-democracy-protest...

_fat_santa 5y ago
Can you really blame FB for it thought? Looking back, Arab spring would have happened with or without FB. If FB never got off the ground we could be talking about how MySpace or Twitter influenced the Arab spring.
jpster 5y ago
First of all, “transformative” is the word I used, intentionally. I don’t know if it’s typical or advisable to try to judge the “success” of a revolution 10 years out. That the revolutions have been met by counter-revolutions doesn’t negate the fact that they changed the trajectory of the countries concerned. And inspired movements and strategies elsewhere, too. > Most of the places impacted by this “spring” […] I wonder if you appreciate just how long that list might be. For instance, I believe Arab Spring strongly influenced Occupy Wall Street. Which kicked off the American discourse about wealth and income inequality and added the “99%” and “1%” to the lexicon. Which had a host of follow-on results (rise of Bernie Sanders…contrast with moderate Dems like Hillary…Dems not seen as doing enough to help inequality…losing to Trump)
cyber_kinetist 5y ago
Even worse, the Arab Spring protests were not a phenomenon that was spontaneously organized, but was the result of careful planning by American government-financed organizations. Here's an NY Times article about this at that time: https://archive.md/LzQjB https://archive.md/LzQjB
- throw_away 5y ago
  To be fair, the US was supporting the other side as well: > “While we appreciated the training we received through the NGOs sponsored by the U.S. government, and it did help us in our struggles, we are also aware that the same government also trained the state security investigative service, which was responsible for the harassment and jailing of many of us,” said Mr. Fathy, the Egyptian activist.
  - cyber_kinetist 5y ago
    The US government seems to do a lot of this, funding both sides of an overseas political conflict to induce chaos within the country, which would destabilize them in the long run and make them powerless to fight against US imperial interests. Ah postmodern realpolitiks, Putin would be really proud...
908B64B197 5y ago
> Most of the places impacted by this "spring", are nowadays worse off than they were 10 years ago. I'm not certain about this. But let's face it, these places started with a backward culture and a dictatorship. The dictatorship was removed but the culture stays. There's little FB and Twitter could do for that. Maybe restricting the brain drain from these countries would help?

_fat_santa 5y ago

Can you really blame FB for it thought? Looking back, Arab spring would have happened with or without FB. If FB never got off the ground we could be talking about how MySpace or Twitter influenced the Arab spring.

jpster 5y ago

First of all, “transformative” is the word I used, intentionally. I don’t know if it’s typical or advisable to try to judge the “success” of a revolution 10 years out. That the revolutions have been met by counter-revolutions doesn’t negate the fact that they changed the trajectory of the countries concerned. And inspired movements and strategies elsewhere, too. > Most of the places impacted by this “spring” […] I wonder if you appreciate just how long that list might be. For instance, I believe Arab Spring strongly influenced Occupy Wall Street. Which kicked off the American discourse about wealth and income inequality and added the “99%” and “1%” to the lexicon. Which had a host of follow-on results (rise of Bernie Sanders…contrast with moderate Dems like Hillary…Dems not seen as doing enough to help inequality…losing to Trump)

cyber_kinetist 5y ago

Even worse, the Arab Spring protests were not a phenomenon that was spontaneously organized, but was the result of careful planning by American government-financed organizations. Here's an NY Times article about this at that time: https://archive.md/LzQjB https://archive.md/LzQjB

throw_away 5y ago
To be fair, the US was supporting the other side as well: > “While we appreciated the training we received through the NGOs sponsored by the U.S. government, and it did help us in our struggles, we are also aware that the same government also trained the state security investigative service, which was responsible for the harassment and jailing of many of us,” said Mr. Fathy, the Egyptian activist.
- cyber_kinetist 5y ago
  The US government seems to do a lot of this, funding both sides of an overseas political conflict to induce chaos within the country, which would destabilize them in the long run and make them powerless to fight against US imperial interests. Ah postmodern realpolitiks, Putin would be really proud...

908B64B197 5y ago

> Most of the places impacted by this "spring", are nowadays worse off than they were 10 years ago. I'm not certain about this. But let's face it, these places started with a backward culture and a dictatorship. The dictatorship was removed but the culture stays. There's little FB and Twitter could do for that. Maybe restricting the brain drain from these countries would help?