The Role of the Media Among Egyptian Diaspora in the UK During the 2011 Egyptian Uprising and Afterwards

doi:10.7176/nmmc/93-04

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of the media among the Egyptian diaspora during and post the 2011 uprising. The first topic discussed is how the Egyptian diaspora in the UK dealt with the media during the uprising. In order to examine how the Egyptian diaspora used the media, interviews conducted with 22 Egyptians from different generations and two Facebook pages have been analysed. Information gathered from 22 interviews and two Facebook pages were gathered and analysed using thematic analysis. Regarding the theoretical framework, the main theoretical framework is based on the concept of Goffman ‘performing identity’ in addition to concepts related to media, sociology and diaspora groups. The Egyptian diaspora used social media in two ways: the first was to stay informed of the uprising in Egypt, whereas the second was by way of using social media websites, such as Facebook as a platform to gather and participate in protests organised in the UK as a support for fellow Egyptians in Egypt and to prove their Egyptian identity. The Egyptian diaspora in the UK including different generations were in agreement with the notion of mistrusting Western and Arabic mainstream media. Conversely, the role of social media was controversial. Egyptian interviewees looked for alternatives to social and mainstream media as a source of information and by using personal networks to gain this information. Keywords: Diaspora, uprising, Egyptian, social media, mainstream media, identity DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/93-04 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

Highlights

The media, especially social media, played a vital role among Egyptians in Egypt during the 2011 uprising, which is why the revolution was named ‘Revolution 2.0’ according to Wael Ghonim (Ghonim 2012).The introduction of social media in Egypt approximately six years ago was a turning point in the lives of Egyptians, as they started to use blogs to express their opinions (Tufekci and Wilson 2012: 363)
Social media was used as a platform for Egyptians to stay connected with what was happening in Egypt, for Egyptians abroad, principally in the United Kingdom
There are some first-generation Egyptians under forty in the United Kingdom who do not fully rely on social media news; Egyptians abroad rely on news published on social media, but only if they believe that the source of that news is credible, if it is reported in newspapers or on TV channels

Summary

Introduction

The media, especially social media, played a vital role among Egyptians in Egypt during the 2011 uprising, which is why the revolution was named ‘Revolution 2.0’ according to Wael Ghonim (Ghonim 2012).The introduction of social media in Egypt approximately six years ago was a turning point in the lives of Egyptians, as they started to use blogs to express their opinions (Tufekci and Wilson 2012: 363). Tufekci adds that authoritarian regimes, such as that of Mubarak’s, were strict in limiting political activities in Egypt, social media websites gave freedom of expression to Egyptians. Howard et al (2011), add that urban, young and well-educated people in Egypt and Tunisia used social media to start political debates and conversations online. It was young Egyptians and Tunisians who used social media to be politically active regarding enhancing the situation in their countries, social media were used to put pressure on the governments of these countries to make changes

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