Influence of Social Media on Social Movements during the Arab Spring: Example of Egypt and Tunisia

The Arab Spring was a civil commotion, that started in Tunisia in 2011, and which subsequently spread to other Arab countries in time. The revolts started with basic reasons such as repressive regime and financial difficulties have affected the entire Middle East in time. A key consideration in the spread and organization of the Arab Spring is the phenomenon of social media, which sped up the organizing and gathering of people. In this research, the events developed in Tunisia and Egypt will be discussed in the scope of Arab Spring and the role of the social media phenomenon will be examined. The social media should be considered as a means speeding up the gathering of people, not as a means starting and escalating the uprisings. Adding social media to the reasons of Arab Spring would mean that the incident is assessed very superficially because the rebellion of the people was caused by the restricted freedoms, rights and financial difficulties, not the messages in the social media.