Friday, March 04, 2016

Can Social Media save Syria?

Sure you say Facebook has worked beautifully in leading Arab Spring revolution, the toppling of Iranian regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the grassroots victory of Barack Obama and numerous other defying examples. But can Facebook and Twitter bring relief to the Syrian struggle?

It seems like it already has.

A video of an unidentified man right after recent ceasefire has gone viral. It has been watched 94000 times in a single day on Facebook. He is mocking another invisible man in a funny accent, daring him to shoot. " Show me your face. I won't shoot you because it is a truce. The truce started at midnight, and now it is five minutes into it." It is unclear as to which party the man belongs to, but it is irrelevant at this point. The heated debates, the mockery, the jabbing jokes have begun and morphed into a mini revolution of its own. People from both sides in Syria are watching this video and trying to identify the party affiliation of the jokester. The identity is irrelevant at this point, the discussion is bringing Syrians from both sides together for the first time since war started. The truce on the ground is solidified through conversations online.

Facebook is adding another dimension to the real sentiments of Syrians. Funnily enough, some users have two facebook accounts, one supporting the regime and the other against it. Syrians are smart, self-preserving people who now have a tool to speak to both sides of the coin. If they happen to be in hostile environment, the supporting Facebook page can not only legitimize but save them.

Cartoons and parody have also found a safe, thriving home online. Tweets mocking President Assad as well as intra-state residents are commonplace. Social media gives residents a voice to be themselves with anonymity. It gives a respite from daily suffering to let loose and express. A dark parody saying, "Our army will throw ten barrels on every Syrian city in celebration of the start of the ceasefire truce." is actually funny and humanizes the weary warriors of that country.

Syrians are not stupid. They see and understand how power can reign havoc on the common man. Online medium also gives them an outlet to talk about global stage. A well respected Syrian cartoonist craftily illustrates the reemergence of cold war between Washington and Moscow and sadly using Syria as the staging platform to resolve their gripes. President Assad's hunger to stay in power has led countless innocents to perish. Syrian people are left to choose between the 'lesser' of two evils to survive. Social media ironically gives the common Syrian a chance to be part of global power struggles.

It is only a matter of time when Syrian Spring begins. 

No comments: