Youth Activism and Social Media in Egypt's 2011 Revolution

Introduction: Youth, Women, and the Egyptian Uprising

Egyptians of all classes and ages took part in the protests, united in demands and ambitions such as improved wages, better working conditions, and political freedom. However, it was the striking numbers of young people who participated in the demonstrations that provided the driving force behind the revolt. Young individuals were also key to sustaining the uprising, as enormous crowds gathered in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo and in other cities across the nation. Egyptian youth were effectively the faces behind this leaderless uprising; the revolution was largely driven by their skill in utilizing social media to gain attention (Roudi-Fahimi, El Feki & Tsai, 2011). The new youth — backed by, and at times instigated by, women — emerged as aware global citizens, refusing to accept the inability of their rulers to keep pace with rapid economic and social change and to provide meaningful avenues for development.

Apart from redefining Egyptian society, new media and public engagement placed people at the center of their own stories in profound ways — ways that integrated the production, distribution, and consumption of mass media. Egyptians therefore rejected the long-prevailing official narratives that had kept them contained, while new stories of protest and responses to severe economic conditions became popular and meaningful to youth across different parts and sectors of Egypt, appealing to them as expressions of their newly found liberal views. Even though Mubarak's removal took a mere eighteen days, the oppositional movement that brought him down was the product of a much longer process of planning and buildup — decades of oppression and disenfranchisement that had stimulated political mobilization.

The relationship between women and uprisings has always been intertwined, and the 2011 revolution gave Egyptian women fresh avenues and opportunities for involvement in political and social reform. From the very beginning, women were at the forefront of civil resistance in both real and virtual forms. The demand for democracy and a secular society arose from the political and social oppression women had experienced for years. The major role played by women in the uprising potentially shook the structure of social power and deconstructed prevailing narratives regarding the Arab woman (Al-Natour, 2012).

Analyzing any aspect of the Egyptian uprising without taking into account this historical background would lead to a myopic conclusion, and when evaluating the role of new phenomena such as social media, it could lead to technological determinism (Saleh, 2013). This paper aims to examine deeply the role that young people played in Egypt in the lead-up to and during the 2011 revolution.

Convergence Culture and Youth Activism in Egypt

In most parts of the world, media and information literacy has provided a strong platform for young people to contribute to economic, political, and social development, offer expression to religious and cultural pluralism, learn about issues in environments different from their own, and support democratic processes. Egypt was no different and could not insulate itself from these broader global trends. The new media environment opened new possibilities for changing societies through civil society and social movements, enlightening decision-making with data and thereby empowering people to take control of their futures (Saleh, 2013).

Half a decade ago, Egyptian youth captured worldwide attention and for a brief period became the focus of the global community. However, the revolution produced nothing more than a regime change, and they had every reason to feel diminished. Most elite Egyptian youth used their smartphones to check Twitter and Facebook, send emails, and exchange text messages. The deeper cultural shift encouraged new activists to connect with friends for a far greater cause — in this case, overthrowing the government. There had been approximately 3,000 employee-led protests in Egypt in the preceding decade, the result of suppressed resentment toward Mubarak's regime.

Egypt was — and remains — a society with a pronounced youth bulge, unable to provide jobs and opportunities for its disproportionately large young population. Unemployment rates in Egypt were highest among university graduates. At the same time, the repressive regime was out of touch with the needs of ordinary Egyptian citizens. Social, political, and economic problems ran deep. For a nation, such a combination heightened its vulnerability as a failing state, reflected in limited experience with democratic governance, a weak education system, and a broken social contract. Moreover, a lack of natural resources, widespread corruption, and incompetent bureaucracies crippled economic output and rendered the future bleak (Saleh, 2013). These hardships inflamed public anger, particularly among youth with little to look forward to. Egyptian youth became increasingly aware that transformation does not happen on its own, and that new media could help bring it about. Disenfranchised groups began mobilizing society toward rebellion against the state. Illiteracy, illness, and poverty had eroded the nostalgic romanticism of a glorious past, leaving a resentful present (Salanova, 2012).

In 2004, the founding of the Egyptian Movement for Change — known as the Kefaya Movement — marked a turning point in the gathering of activists against the Mubarak regime. The movement was initiated by intellectuals demanding political transformation. It had limited success in mobilizing a critical mass of protesters and found it particularly difficult to reach ordinary citizens. On April 6, an organizing tool met political reality in a combination powerful enough to form storm clouds on the horizon for the regime. The outcome was the creation of a new movement — the April 6 Youth Movement — which has since played an important organizational role in the 2011 protests (Storck, 2011).

The trajectory of Egyptian political protests points to the importance of tracking the "new" media environment in mapping the role of communication in anti-authoritarian movements. Social networks informed, organized, entertained, opened opportunities, increased transparency, and helped hold governments accountable. The new virtual options created new spaces and redefined traditional ones, giving participants a new sense of belonging — a form of connection and unity both internally and with others across the region and beyond. There are cultural and social impacts of new media in the formation of values and knowledge, alongside dynamics embedded in longer-lasting historical developments that expand the role of the individual vis-à-vis established powers (Hofheinz, 2011). Yet the fact remains that the Egyptian revolution and its subsequent political events — for better or worse — were likely to occur regardless of the presence of technology or the internet. The relationship between society and technology is essential to this discussion: technology is society, and society cannot be understood without its technological tools (Saleh, 2013).

The revolution once again demonstrated that women play an important role in revolutionary events. Egyptian women actively participated in the uprising in the same way they had played an active role in the strike movement in recent years, compelling men to join the strikes on numerous occasions. Although women comprised only approximately 10% of protesters in the early demonstrations, on Tahrir Square they constituted around 40 to 50% of the protesters in the days leading to Mubarak's fall. Egyptian women, both veiled and unveiled, participated in defending the square, erected barricades, chaired debates, chanted slogans, and risked their lives alongside men (Frederiksen, 2011). Like their male counterparts, women in Egypt embraced the call to "hope," expressing the spirit of Tahrir and the aspiration that the model of democracy forged there would be sustained as Egyptians shaped a new social and political landscape (Naib, 2011).

Conceptual Framework

The wide, interpenetrating, and overlapping ways in which media systems and communication networks conditioned and facilitated political transformation can be better understood by drawing on several significant models and theories. It is important to apply the social construction of technology and domestication theories while recognizing that social networking did not necessarily replace traditional means of mobilization but rather amplified them. The theoretical position here is that both new and traditional communication tools reinforced mobilization activities. Given that social network connections are non-hierarchical and that information exchange is relatively open, movements such as "April 6" and "Kefaya" were able to build organizational structures resilient enough to withstand government repression by adapting their strategies to conditions on the ground (Saleh, 2013).

Conclusion

The 2011 Egyptian revolution that removed long-time President Hosni Mubarak was built upon a momentum of calls for change and succeeded largely due to the use of social media. Facebook was one of the primary means of planning street protests and expressing political views. YouTube also played a major role, as activists were able to film protests that were then picked up by international television channels, enabling people worldwide to witness events in Egypt. Activists used Twitter to coordinate protests and express views on unfolding developments during the course of the movement. Many Egyptians not directly involved in activism also contributed to discussions via Twitter (Salanova, 2012).

Although different social media platforms played a significant role in the Egyptian revolution, it is important to note that the success of the revolution also depended on physical, grassroots activism. Egyptian activists had been attempting to forge a revolution using social media platforms for nearly a decade with very limited success (Aday et al., 2012). However, in 2011, cyber activists connected with grassroots activists, and combining their skills and resources, the two groups succeeded in removing the Mubarak regime from power (Auer, 2011).

The work of men and women — uniting fruit sellers and housewives, students and businesswomen — constituted Egypt's popular uprising. At its peak, approximately a quarter of the numerous protesters who appeared at the square every day were women. Both veiled and unveiled women shouted, fought, and spent nights in the streets alongside men, overturning traditional expectations of their behavior (Otterman, 2011).

The revolution brought to the fore the power of social media platforms as networking and mobilization tools. It also demonstrated that such platforms could be used to hold people accountable and bring about positive change in democracies. Many scholars, journalists, and political commentators have embraced social media as a force for good (Hofheinz, 2011, p. 23). However, many governments remain resistant to change and will often fight against movements that challenge them. This has led to a conflict in which, on one side the government fires bullets, and on the other, protesters fire tweets (Storck, 2011).

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