The Role of Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011

Abstract

The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 was broadcasted as “the Internet caused revolution.” The relationship between social media and participation in anti-regime demonstrations is in dispute and like in a black box. This paper explores the relationship to utilize a theoretical and an empirical approach. More concretely, by using survey data sets we examine a hypothesis derived from a diffusion model of information as well as social movement theory. The result shows two facts, firstly vanguards of the demonstration were more active in social media than followers in the revolution. Secondly, active bloggers have a tendency to take part in the demonstration against the Mubarak regime. These findings criticize a limited effect of social media in the literature and indicate that social media diminishes the collective action problem in the anti-government protests. They also point out that the concept of political opportunity structure is useful for understanding the revolution.