From TUNeZine to Nhar 3la 3mmar
A Reconsideration of the Role of Bloggers in Tunisia’s Revolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21186320 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amy Aisen Kallander (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Publication date | 2013-01-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Arab Media and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1687-7721 • E-ISSN: 1687-7721 |
| Publisher | The Adham Center for Television and Digital Communication (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.70090/aak13tez |
| OpenAlex | W4402649078 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
In mid-November 2010, prominent bloggers Lina ben Mhenni and Arabasta began a campaign to attract new voices to the Tunisian blogosphere under the rubric “7ell blog”[2] or “start blogging” through an eponymous webpage and Facebook group. Posts included instructions for beginners, links to hosting sites, explanations on how to add videos or how to participate in an aggregator, and debates about whether bloggers should write anonymously. By early January 2011 they tallied over 3,000 friends, and had posted links to 100 newly created or recently revived blogs. The site was then hacked by government censors (7ellblog 2011). While the initiative did not espouse an overt activist agenda, was not affiliated with any political party or civil society organization, by connecting blogs to increasingly popular forms of social networking it highlighted the importance of new media as a format for encouraging freedom of expression. Their efforts were comparable to previous online efforts to defy censorship in that a few motivated individuals were able to generate digital momentum for a cause just as their experience with censorship was typical of the prevalent Internet surveillance that characterized Tunisia under Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011). Across the Middle East, as young, well-educated, upper-class critics turned to the Internet to voice their opinions, they faced a range of serious consequences from harassment to arrest and torture (Lynch 2007). This article will examine Tunisia’s particular case, showing that the international focus on social media’s impact stemmed partially from the paradoxical ability of Ben Ali to control the Internet while maintaining a reputation as a modern, democratic statesman
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2016 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |