Besides presenting a platform for instagram pictures of your dinner, and share funny cat videos, social media allows people across the globe to communicate their views, and goals. With the Arab Spring, and ensuing revolutions, social media has gained a foothold in the revolutionary mindset Beyond simple mobilization of movement, websites provide an arena for cyberactivism. Activists no longer cling to gathering the interests of those directly around them, but can reach out to others from the safety of their own home.
The model the article works with, of the Egyptian Revolution, presents a prime example of the ways that social media aids in the development of larger movements. The distribution of images of police brutality made possible by rapid information transfers mobilized people who otherwise may have been unaware or unmotivated in demonstration. Dissemination of images and information to a wider crowd than before also enable activists to create platforms for other issues that they find important without losing the interest of viewers.
The article points out, however, that social media does not deserve any of the credit for these activist demonstrations, but simply functioned as a tool for activists. It also provides something which the article did not touch on: a safety net of sorts. Activists were able to make plans via a forum which is harder to bust than a gathering of people. A sense of anonymity can be maintained on the internet, and then