In February 2011, Egyptian President Mubarak resigned following weeks of protest against his regime. The Egyptian Revolution, A.K.A the January 25 Revolution, was sparked following “calls for protests from online youth groups.” The protests, organised solely via social media, specifically Twitter, led to clashes between security and dissidents, causing 846 casualties and over 6,000 injuries. Social media played a key role in these demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa, which became known as the Arab Spring, effectively leading to the overhaul of governments in countries inclusive of Egypt.
In recent times, there has been a paradigm shift from consumption to production, with the term ‘Produsage’ becoming popularized. Produsage can be described as ‘the writing readers’ or ‘the viewers who picked up a camera”. It is all about giving media users the ability to produce content, and in the case of the Arab Spring, the personal use of social media in order to spark a revolution.
Social media users have initiated the transition from Monologic media, such as television, whereby the process of receiving information comes in the form of dissemination, to the use of Dialogic media, like Twitter, that allows for the transformation from dissemination to dialogue and conversation. This shift allows for such insurgent activity as the Arab Spring to spread both rapidly and successfully.
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Hi Shaneese,
I think Produsage has a powerful place in an ever advancing and contemporary society.
I think the rising use of Dialogic media by people in suppressing societies whom need to rebel is a powerful tool. Looking at this positive example in Egypt, it could be very inspiring to see citizens in similar situations, equipped with the tools of the 21st century, to adopt these tools in their fighting against oppressive systems around the world, and bring about a positive change to their community. People who were once pacified can now become proactive protestors and fighters.
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Completely agree with the comment about people once being pacified that have now become proactive protesters ! Thanks for your comment 🙂
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Hi Shaneese,
Your blog post, “The Rise of Produsage: The Arab Spring”, was very engaging and informative. I love how you incorporated an example that clearly depicts the effects of “produsage” and its impact on society at large. In turn, the use of your original meme, clarifies the main point you are discussing, further enhancing a reader’s understanding of the issue. I agree with you in that the shift from monologic to dialogic media has resulted in an increase in network participation and may be seen as a key cause for the Arab Spring revolution. In regards to your post, I would suggest referencing an additional source, for example one of the reading’s from the week’s lecture, https://eprints.qut.edu.au/6623/1/6623.pdf. This will further provide additional information in regards to the rise of dialogic media and how active participants are becoming increasingly influential, especially through social media. The following article, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/01/arab-spring-five-years-on/, reflects on the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolution and is quite an interesting read. Overall, a very concise and well – written blog post, in turn, establishing a new perspective on, “The Rise of Produsage”.
Brittany
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Thank you for such a detailed comment Brittany ! Appreciate you taking the time to read and respond to my post ! The article ‘Arab Spring five years on’ was a suer interesting read ! Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
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A concise yet informative post. It goes to show the power of ‘produsage’ and dialogic media and how they can be used effectively when people come together to overhaul corrupt agencies. I really enjoyed reading this post as it was to the point and clear, which is something I find myself struggling to achieve in my blog posts, for some reason unknown to me. In saying that, yours has been really good to look at as a source of guidance.
Only pointer is because your case description was so concise another one could have helped to stress your point on evolving audience power e.g. Khaled Said’s case would have gone well with your post as it also extends on the power of the internet community via social media platforms (Facebook group ‘We Are All Khaled Said’).
Anyway, awesome read!
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*overthrow lol
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Glad to hear my post has been able to help you with the construction of your own posts. I find in trying to stick to the word limit of 150 words, one example take up a lot of this allowance. However, the case study you have mentioned was not only interesting but extremely relevant to my own case study. Thanks for the suggestion !
Happy blogging 🙂
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