Impact of Digital Communication: Conflict & Change

Question 1

Howard - ‘Digital Jesus’

Answer 1

• In 1999 it was clear the internet was playing a key role in Christian fundamentalist groups
• Shows how like-minded people created a web of religious communication on the internet, which had no central leader or institution
• This shows how new communication technologies can empower the individuals that use them

Question 2

Mohammadi

Answer 2

Says western dominance is exaggerated and ignored the interactions that occur between different cultures

Question 3

Giddens - ‘Reverse Colonisation’

Answer 3

‘Reverse colonisation’ is happening, where less powerful groups are putting their culture on the western world e.g., Mexico is a country poorer than America, yet they adopt their food, dress, and music
Big western companies take local practises into account to make sure their companies grow
Also, traditional religious groups use the internet to protect their culture and views and gain support

Question 4

Kirkpatrick - ‘The Facebook Effect’

Answer 4

He found that a Facebook site was used as a catalyst for a popular movement in Colombia, helping 10 million people take part in street demonstrations which stopped the violence and kidnapping that was taking place by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

Question 5

How does social media shape major social movements?

Answer 5

• Immediate communication with others which can prepare them
• Information can reach a huge number of people
• Human rights can be discussed anonymously
• Groups can speak out to a wide range of people
• News can be told without being biased
• Offers people the chance to speak out against regime

Question 6

The Taliban’s internet strategy

Answer 6

• Over the past decade, the Taliban has dramatically improved its public-relation skills
• The Taliban have been using effective propaganda warfare over the internet and use the media as a way of recruitment
• Now, films are distributed on Taliban websites, passed from mobile to mobile and reach audiences through things like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Question 7

Conflict & change in the Middle East

Answer 7

• Media in the Arab World was largely limited to the social elite, as access to the internet was so restricted by the state
• Rulers were worried western ideas would damage traditional ones
• However, in 2011, social media increased with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter having a very important role to play in the revolutions that had taken place there

Question 8

What happened in Egypt?

Answer 8

• In Egypt, through information spread online, internet activists were able to establish a network of resistance
• Through being permanently connected to each other, activists could access a huge number of networks of trust and create an uprising
• It gave people a place to voice their anxieties and
• The regimes in both Egypt and Syria used communication tools to counter the activists’ efforts of trying to expose them