An Exploratory Study of Risk and Social Media : What Role Did Social Media Play in the Arab Spring Revolutions ?

Abstract

Individuals from six “Arab Spring” countries were asked about their willingness to take risks during civil unrest in their countries. In the wake of the Arab Spring conflicts, there is much speculation as to why the revolutions occurred when they did and what caused them to spread across the Arab region so quickly. Much of the existing research uses data from secondary sources to demonstrate that social media use was ubiquitous during the Arab Spring. This study examines personal, written responses from individuals living in Arab Spring countries during conflict with their governments. Individuals were asked to respond to questions about their use of social media during civil unrest and about risk in relation to social media use. Results indicate that social media was used to document and organize the protests, to motivate people to take action, and that individuals took risks by joining the movements.