Is Technology Contributing to Political Unrest?

In our current society political Unrest is an important issue. There have been a few cases of it in the past couple of years, all over the globe. There are many things that contribute to political Unrest, and even though this might sound odd technology is one of those things. The social networks like Twitter and Facebook, which can be accessed through the Internet, can make a huge contribution to political issues.

The social networking websites I mentioned allow everyone from reporters to common citizens to post real time updates on their site. Let’s say a groundbreaking event just happened we could learn about it through these websites, as it is happening, and that is all thanks to technology. The information put up on these websites can be what makes people decide how they feel on a certain issue like political Unrest. These websites have formed a new and faster form of journalism.

The article “Twitter blocked in Egypt after political unrest” by John Ribeiro talks about how Twitter was blocked in the country of Egypt because of a protest against its government. It also talks about how important Twitter is. It also states, the Egyptian protestors are using Facebook to communicate with each other and the world. The Egyptian government blocked one social networking website and the Egyptian people just turned to another website of the same sort to continue their effort on the Internet. In the article there is a quote from Twitter that states, "We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments better connect with their people". I agree with this statement. This is just another form of Journalism, and it does benefit societies to be able to get up to date information on what is currently going on in their country or around the world.

Another article titled ‘‘Social networking’ technology and political unrest” talks about the advantages and disadvantages of technology like text messaging and social networks. It explains how Twitter and Facebook messages can be easily tracked compared to text messages. There’s a statement in the article that says, “the importance of SNT is not in organizing protestors (it may, or may not) but in ensuring that the world knows in grim detail what is going on.” SNT is the network simulator designed from the outset for maximum speed and scalability, with real-time simulation as an achievable goal. I agree with the statement from the article because the SNT is a technology made to give real time updates. That is what lets us know exactly what is going on when it happens on websites like Twitter and Facebook.

After reading these articles I think both authors agree with the fact that technology is contributing to political Unrest. In both articles the authors expressed how technology and social networking websites affect political issues. Journalism is taking a step into the future because of technology.

 Written by : Barry Allen