“In Times of Unrest, Social Networks Can Be a Distraction”Andrea Chong, TWC G13

ICT and World Change

Past, Present and Future

“The mass media, including interactive social-networking tools, make you passive, can sap your initiative, leave you content to watch the spectacle of life from your couch or smartphone. Apparently even during a revolution.”

-Navid HassanpourYale Graduate Student

Main Points

Implicated many apolitical citizens

Forced more face-to-face communication

Decentralized the rebellion

“Shutting down radicalizes things”

Egyptian protestsjanuary 2011

Key Takeaways

“Full connectivity in a social network can hinder collective action”

“Localization process”- movement spreading across a region

We become unpredictable when we don’t know what’s going on.

Rating: 9/10