Al Jazeera Forum: Role of bloggers discussed Sunday, 13 March 2011 03:07

By Fazeena Saleem

Bloggers and activists from different countries yesterday discussed and argued the role of blogosphere in socio-political changes in the world, at the sixth Al Jazeera Forum.

The social networking site function as starting engines of the uprisings in the Middle East and African countries, according to a panellist at this seminar held to discuss on ‘Can the blogosphere affect societal and political change?’

“Social media was able to connect lot of people and it made others to hear about stories and first person accounts from the people on the ground. It was like a Formula-1 motor race engine to the revolution,” said Isham, a blogger at the panel discussion.  

The recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt show that the blogosphere’s effects on civil society are obvious. Where bloggers have been influential in the public sphere, repressive regimes have tried, not unsuccessfully, to stifle them — by threat, arrest, or simply by just blocking access to their sites.

This seminar was aimed to strike a balance between exaggerating and understating the effect of the Arab blogosphere on political and social change.

“Even during the Iranian revolution activists used photocopy, posters and printers to reach people. Now it has been social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and bloggs. Social networking is human interaction which has helped to build a physical space in interaction,” said Ramzi, an Iranian blogger.

Mark Levin, a blogger from the United States, said that the social networks were able to attract people at  recent events in the Middle East and the African countries was only due to the civil support.  

“Earlier also the there were people involved in social networks. If there were 5,000 members only 50 will come for a protest. This time there was support from the grass root, and that’s how it became a success,” said Levin.

Looking forward, as access to the Internet further spreads and regimes become potentially less restrictive about new media, ‘Can the blogosphere affect societal and political change?’ Interactive seminar discussed about the changing political era and examined the emergence of non-state actors and the new power players reshaping the political landscape in the region.

“In Tunisia and Egypt social media was an important tool during the uprisings. The social media especially plays a role to cut the space between the people in a country and those who are in other countries,” said Nazer Mahadi, another blogger speaking at the event. Building on the worldwide recognition of Al Jazeera Network’s coverage during recent events in the Middle East, the Forum prominently feature the young activists, bloggers and journalists. 

The Peninsula