ABSTRACT
The Arab Spring social movements highlight the way the digital revolution has greatly expanded the parameters within which groups and individuals can voice concerns, share information, and organize protest activities. This chapter examines the usefulness of the theoretical frameworks as they apply to the Arab Spring and its predecessors, acknowledging the role of public and traditional forms of organizing in conjunction with web-based strategies and tactics. It also examines the case studies to show that on-the-ground activities remain very effective. The chapter analyzes the role that new digital technologies played. It addresses the additional question of how these analyses can contribute to and update traditional theories of social movements: in each of these countries disenfranchised youth took advantage of emerging wired technological formats in their respective countries to create mediated communities, networks, and identities, thereby expanding discourse in civil society.
