Oussama Raqui is a high school teacher of English. He got his BA from Chouaib Doukkali University, Eljadida. He writes articles and modern essays.
Youssoufia, Morocco
When Tim Berner
Lee invented the World Wide Web, he brought a success that has changed people’s
way of life. The Internet technology has become a necessity in the modern
world. Factories, organizations and institutions rely on the Internet in their
interrelations. We cannot talk about an economic revolution without the use of
the Internet because it is the appropriate way of communication between
countries. This relationship makes it necessary for the Arab developing
countries to use the internet so as to benefit from the economic development.
In fact, the use of the internet by a large number of people has brought
positive as well as negative effects to the sociopolitical scene in the Arab
World because of the way the Internet technology has been used and the
characteristics of Arab societies.
The way of life
in the Middle East, as well as in North Africa, is different from the rest of
the world. The norms of most countries are shaped by the Islamic tradition. The
relationship between family members is of great importance in these societies,
especially that between parents and children. In addition, the way men and
woman interact with each other is regulated according to certain principles.
From another point of view, the political life in the Arab world is undergoing
a big change nowadays; the citizens who have suffered a lot from oppression and
neglect are now asking for reforms in so many domains which have been corrupted
by tyrannical governments. Moreover, Arab societies have been highly influenced
by the development of Western societies. This led to the emergence of the
Internet in the life of Arabs, but it has been used for additional purposes.
The need for much more freedom, democracy and social reforms
make a great number of people rely on the Internet to achieve their aims. As
Deborah L. Wheeler points out ‘‘the latest estimates suggest that internet use in
the Middle East and North Africa is growing at a rate higher than any other
place in the world. Between the years 2000-2005 internet access rates grew at a
measure of around 411% (compounded growth)’’ (p5). So, this expanded access to the
Internet must have changed the behaviours and values of a large number of
people, which has brought a big social change to the Arab societies.
Although most
countries in the Middle East and North Africa are conservative, the Internet is making people behave in new manners
in their lives. ‘‘ Given strict social
sanctions against crossing gender boundaries outside of marriage and the
family, the Internet is widening the interactions and experiences of men and
women in the Middle East and North
Africa’’ (Wheeler,12). A recent study of
the impact of the Internet on Saudi Arabia shows that “ new forms of
private communication, like electronic mail and chat, but also online public
areas…for the first time enable communication between males and females in this
gender-segregated society’’(Yasslem al-saggaf qtd in.Wheeler).
Through social networks or chat rooms, the opposite sexes can share their views
and opinions without knowing each other face-to-face. In many societies, there
are couples who met thanks to social networks and got married afterwards. In
this respect, the relationship between teenagers is highly influenced by their
excessive use of the Internet.
The period of
adolescence is characterized by a sort of rebellion against the norms of
society, and the persons undergoing it might not differentiate between what is
good and what is bad. A girl and a boy can easily build a relationship through
chatting these days. ‘‘One such factor might be developmental changes in adolescence,
which could cause teenagers to withdraw from social contact and to use the
internet as an escape’’ (Robert Kraut et al., 1028). But the fact that this
online interaction can be easily moved to the offline world has changed the
manner through which teenagers behave towards each other and will affect the
structure of even more conservative societies.
According to
the Islamic tradition, children must look after their parents, especially when
they grow old. This helps to create integration among family members. But if
the children are going to spend too much time on the Internet, their parents
will be left alone. ‘‘Use of internet, such as
watching T.V, may present a privatization of entertainment, which could lead to
social withdrawal and to declines in psychological well-being’’
(Robert Kraut et al., 1029). Meena Kumari Rajani and M.S. Chandio suggest a
solution to make old people help themselves: “Through the internet
they (old people) can get information related to their health and religion
and can communicate with their friends and do
online shopping and consult with doctors without being dependent
on their children” (160). But the obstacle is that old people need
computer literacy. The problem is going to be worst if they are uneducated because
foreign languages, for example, are necessary to manipulate computers. Indeed, there
is nothing that can make parents happier than
being with their children who take care of them. This establishes integration
among family members. The use of the Internet may hinder this relationship
inside the family. However, does it have any
positive effect on peoples’ lives outside their homes?
The Internet
technology has enabled its users to know about different cultures and to create
new social interactions on online communities. When Wheeler
says, ‘‘ The Internet café users in Jordan and Egypt celebrate the tool’s
ability to give them new opportunities to develop their knowledge and opinions
of politics and social issues, especially on those topics which might be taboo
in face to face interactions,’’ she illustrates that the Internet users can act
more freely through the Internet without boundaries. Individuals from different
geographic places can learn about other cultures thanks to simple websites.
This ability was almost impossible before the emergence of the Internet. The
only means to be informed about other civilizations was to read lengthy books
or to visit the places where people live.
Chat rooms,
instant messaging and social networks are now increasing the interaction
between individuals and groups. Using the Internet, people succeed in building
online communities. The matters discussed on online networks emerge first in
the offline world. We might even say that there are some phenomena which exist
primarily online; such as brides planning international weddings and composers
of computerized music. Social networks have given space for people to discuss
political issues more freely. Individuals with different backgrounds have become
able to express their opinions without chains; ‘‘ this ability to share and
develop opinions, to extend social networks, and to grow in one’s political consciousness,
and commitment to engage in world and Arab
affairs represents one of the most powerful political effects of the web’’(Wheeler,14).
Most Arab
governments have accepted the principles of human rights, including the right
of freedom of speech. But there have been so many constraints on people to
express their opinions. Those who oppose the mainstream of political affairs
are often put in prison, exiled or killed like what has been happening in Syria, Yemen and many
Arab societies. However, ‘‘ the global pressure to join the knowledge economy
means that states in the region can no longer afford to keep their politics
digitally muzzled and blind folded’’(Wheeler,17).
Citizens in oppressed countries are relying on the computer mediated
communication because it provides security for them to express their opinions.
As it is stated in Peter Steiner’s famous New
Yorker drawing, ‘‘on the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog’’ (see Wilson
and Peterson, 458).
Facebook,
Twitter and other social networks played an important role in the recent
uprisings in the Arab World. Tunisia was the first country to use the Internet
technology among Arab societies. As time passed by, access to the Internet
reached an important rate among Tunisians. When the uprising started in
Tunisia, the tyrannical government of Ben Ali prevented people from expressing
their views. More than that, the uprising was suppressed by using violence
against the protests. The only means to communicate between each other and
organize their actions were the social networks.
Malcolm
Gladwell starts his article ‘‘Social media can’t provide what social
change has always required’’ with an important event that happened on February 1, 1960. It is a civil right war that started when
four collage students from North Carolina were maltreated at a lunch counter by
a waitress because of their black colour. Gladwell argues
that this was a kind of activism that happened without Facebook or Twitter, and social networks can’t provide this kind of
activism. Some of his arguments are as follows:
Social media
are not about this kind of hierarchical organization. Facebook and the like are
tools for building networks, which are the opposite, in structure and character
of hierarchies. Unlike hierarchies, with their rules and procedures, networks aren’t controlled by a single central authority.
Decisions are made through consensus, and the ties that bind people to the
group are loose.
In fact, we
would say that social networks are an important step toward hierarchical
organization, especially in oppressive countries where people’s gathering at
the heart of the uprising is controlled by the state. People who opt for change meet on Facebook or
Twitter, discuss their strategies and goals, and
then go to the streets where organization can be
easily settled. Both the Tunisian and Egyptian governments made bans on the
access to the Internet during the Arab Spring. This shows the critical role
social networks played in organizing the demonstrations which led to the
decline of both governments. Given these facts, are we going to consider online
communities as being divorced from the real world? I agree that the ties that
bind people online may be loose, but the real ties are the ones built when
people meet in the street. Bit by bit, people start to trust the online
interactions because they are now the successful way that leads to increasing
participation and organization. ‘‘It is hard to sustain freedoms to be
creative and entrepreneurial digitally speaking, while at the same time,
keeping these same concepts and roles from being used to re-engineer political
and social life, from the family, to the community, to the state’’(Wheeler,17).
In short, the
Internet has affected both the social and political aspects in the Arab world.
The interaction between males and females is going to be different in many
societies. The two sexes are communicating with each other much more than
before. The integration within the family is badly decreasing because of the excessive
use of the Internet. On the other hand, the Arab governments no longer control
the political changes in their societies. People have become aware of the
importance of the Internet to make a change in their lives. ‘‘Whether Arab
societies like it or not, increasing levels of education…,and the rise of new
communications media are turning the Arab street into a public sphere in which
greater numbers of people, not just a political and economic elite, will have a
say in governance and public issues’’(Dale Eickelman.qtd.in Wheeler).
Works Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. Social Media Can’t Provide What Social Change
Has Always
Required, 2010.
Meena Kumari Rajani & M.S.Chandio. Use of the Internet AND it’s
Effect on Our Society.
NCET 2004.
Kraut R, Patterson M, Lundmark V, Keislar S, Mukopadhyay T and
Sherilis W. Internet
Paradox. A Social
Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well
Being ? APA,
1998.
Wheeler, Deborah. Empowering Publics: Information Technology and
Democratization
In The Arab World—Lessons from Internet Cafés and Beyond.Oxford
Internet Institute,
2006.
Wilson Samual M, Peterson Leughton C. The Anthropology of Online
Communities.
Annu. Rev, 2002.
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