Twitter/Face Book revolution in Egypt

With improvement in technology in the 21st century, social networks and digital media has overtaken any other form of communication in the world. Technology has speeded up globalization process and in turn witnessed cultural sharing around the globe (Castells 67). The digital media has become one of the most important tools in influencing political and economic affairs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Twitter/Face Book revolution in Egypt specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More People around the world have become more enlightened about world affairs and their rights. Social networks are free, easy and convenient for people of all lifestyles to open and own an account as long as internet is available. Face Book and Twitter are innovations of the 21st century, which have heavily affected the system of governance. In Egypt, through the social networks, people started staging mass demonstrations in protest against Hosni Mub arak regime pressurizing him to resign in what could be termed as Internet/Twitter Revolution. Overwhelmed by the uprisings, the Egyptian Government resulted in banning Twitter and other social networks, though not directly the government was using Chomsky’s propaganda model to justify themselves. The government argued that the social networks were only interested in tapping the large Egyptian population as a resource and not in providing the crucial information. The government further refuted its image as portrayed on Twitter arguing that the information was biased and not objective. The information, to the regime, was structured in a way it put the masses against their own government (Herman Chomsky 2). To them Twitter being a foreign owned corporation was only interested in advertising itself, and had no interest in the affairs of the Egyptian people. It was also argued that exiled personalities and anti government movements were using the site to fund the protesters crea ting chaos and anarchy. Technological advancement especially in the media industry has been the major factor in influencing and speeding the process of globalization. Globalization and the digital media have facilitated more knowledge sharing and collaborations. The social networks are entertaining and at times addictive. This guarantees these sites millions and millions of followers and in the process of socializing information is shared and dispersed. In the recent past, the sites have become more business and political oriented. People have started to question the system of government in their respective countries after comparing it with other models of governments elsewhere.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The use of social media had effectively started to influence on the government in 2009. This was witnessed in Iran after the disputed presidential elections. In what came to be referred to the Green Revolution, green symbolizing the opposition party’s campaign colors, protesters marched into the streets pressuring Ahmedinejad to resign. Mousavi the opposition leader who disputed the elections kept in touch with the masses via the social networks. Protesters to post videos of the cruelty inflicted by the government forces used You Tube, Twitter and Face Book. This was met by international condemnation of the atrocities, some countries even threatening to impose economic sanctions. Although the Iran Government did not give in, the rest of the world had been sensitized (Raatma 54). In Egypt, the then government had ruled for over thirty years. Egypt has remained a third world country, with high levels of unemployment yet it was among the first countries of the world to experience civilization. The government was accused of being dictatorial, corrupt, and infringement of press freedom. Most of the over eighty million population remains unemp loyed and the few employed have poor working conditions and poor salaries. The Egyptian problems are common problems facing the Middle East region of the Arab world. Most of the Middle East Arab countries have a similar pattern of government; either dictatorial or monarchical, democracy is never exercised. The political leaders have been in power for decades, dictatorial and oppressive. Economic developments are minimal and the masses languish in poverty. However, the leaders of these regions are the richest among the political class of the world raising an alarm among the people. Some are known to lead flamboyant lifestyles owning property in other parts of the world like Europe and America. There are also monarchical systems in this region. Monarchical systems of the region allow no democratic elections. Leaders in power are not competent since they are in power not because of their capability but because of their family lineage. Comparing their form of government with the West de mocrats like the US, the people of the region have sought to change the status quo. The Egyptian Revolution was inspired by the Tunisian Revolution, which had just ousted the then incumbent president, Ben Ali. The participants of the revolutions were ordinary people and not militias or guerrilla fighters, and thus were unarmed.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Twitter/Face Book revolution in Egypt specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The effectiveness of the uprising primarily relied on the number of people protesting, thus a medium to communicate with the people, urging them to turn up in large numbers was very necessary. Twitter and Face Book thus become the perfect platform for mass interaction (Bergstorm 1). The Egyptian media corporations are mainly state owned or government friendly and thus could not show or portray any anti government sentiment. The influence of the government on media created suspicion from the people and hence these local media could not be trusted. People turned to internationally credible media corporations like CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera. The social networks also become very famous. Where television network had been cut, people could follow, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, and other television cables on Twitter. Twitter allows users to view the tweets and messages if they have an account. To follow the proceedings, people registered on Twitter in large numbers and further uniting the masses, this led to the government’s use of propaganda model to claim Twitter was using the chaos to reap hefty profits and thus was manufacturing and structuring news to suit what they felt would attract more viewers and followers instead of remaining objective. Leaders like the exiled El- Baradi a Nobel Prize winner was able to directly link with the people. The rise of use of Twitter, Face Book and online news channels led the Government of Egypt to block internet access especially Twitte r. This brought about international condemnations as it was against the rights of people to acquisition of information, against press freedom and freedom of association. The government did not own up rather blamed the internet failures on the demonstrators. The masses were already educated and sensitized enough, so demonstrations could not be deterred or stopped. International community was very vocal in condemning this act and the internet-oriented companies like Google tried to help in solving the situation by sending direct IP port for use by the people on their handsets. This Egyptian Revolution could also be analyzed from the smart mob perspective propagated by Rheingold. The notion hold that there is emergence of popular revolts by the masses once there is technological advancement. The masses in context (smart mob) are not related nor acquainted with one another (Rheingold 76).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, they are faced with common problems like poverty and unemployment. The smart mobs use the technologically manufactured gadgets to relate with one another. They act intelligently and efficiently. As technology advances the cost of microprocessors, that link people, decrease. The technological advances highlighted by Rheingold include blogs, wireless gadgets like mobile phones, chats and computing technology. In Egypt and many other third world countries, wireless gadgets like mobile phones have become the most used tools for accessing the internet to the ordinary person. Prior to the 21st Century, mobile phones were not common in Africa. However, the past decades has witnessed radical changes in telecommunication industries around the world. Telecommunication industries have become the highest revenue generators all over Africa with the richest persons in African according to Forbes falling in the line of telecommunication industry. Of the Egyptians listed in the 2010 Forbes list of richest Africans the leading were in the telecommunication sector. Internet access through the phones and the development of smart phones is a new phenomenon in Africa and many other third world countries. Phone manufacturing companies like Nokia have spent much of their resources advertising their brand in the new markets of third world countries which in turn has seen massive buying of phones. During the revolution in Egypt, many people were using phones in the access of Twitter and Face Book. This enabled people to organize the venues and time of the demonstrations enabling them to counter the imposed curfews by the government. Most of these phones have a camera device, which enabled people to capture the events on the ground uploading the pictures on Face Book and Twitter for all to see. To counter this, the government blocked the internet (Inoljt 1). Through uploading pictures and videos of the events on the ground, there was no way the government could have been able to prevent the world from assessing the situation. This led to many nations sending airplanes for their people who could have been trapped in Egypt, which in turn led to Egypt losing millions of dollars in the tourism industry and other sectors. Leaders of the revolution were also able to communicate with other world leaders through webcam. Debates and negotiations could be initiated and held via the net something that has never been witnessed. The government was overwhelmed by the mass demonstration and all efforts to thwart the revolts became futile. Military deployment led to more condemnation. The US president, Obama, together with other world leaders pressurized the Egyptian administration to heed to the will of the people and institute reforms or just resign (Johnson 1). Without the international support, the president had no option but to resign. The successive Egyptian Revolution has inspired many more revolts in the world. The Arab nations of Middle East and North Africa ar e plugged into chaos. From Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen to Libya. Yemen has totally blocked Twitter site in an attempt to thwart the uprising. However, IP port and addresses from Twitter in collaboration with Google are being circulated in the television networks especially Al Jazeera in an attempt by the rest of the world to assist the oppressed mob agitating for their rights. Gadhafi, the Libyan dictator who has ruled for over forty-two years, has remained adamant. Libyan forces have been using excessive force in suppressing the demonstrators. Though Twitter and Face Book are partially blocked, pictures posted on those two sites show horrible scenes of human rights violation (Hudson 2). The international community led by the US has threatened military intervention on Libya (Baumont 1). There has been established a no-fly zone to deter Libyan fighter jets from further killing innocent civilians. No matter the efforts by these dictatorial regimes, the masses have the unifying bond in the internet, which they have enjoyed for a couple of years. The dictatorial regimes have a tendency of filtering the contents broadcast by local media. The powerful regimes control production, distribution and influence in the consumption of the information. The Middle East countries have remained relatively behind in the information dispensation sector and freedom of press (Hounshell 1). Globalization has changed the status quo by enabling connectivity and intermingling of people in different countries. Those countries that block the worldwide links and networks are heavily condemned. However, China one of the leading economies of the world, has continued with internet restriction and site like that of Google has been completely blocked. The internet is a valuable source of information in the modern world. The installation of fiber optic cables in third world countries has enabled global collaboration and sharing. You Tube has provided an alternative for storing chunks of informa tion. Marketing through You Tube has become easier and convenient. You Tube videos enable persons to assess a situation and make their investment choices wisely. Social networks have also become resourceful sites for job seekers and potential employers to interact. Global media has enabled users to access information first hand. A Person in Africa can follow the events of the latest Tsunami to hit Japan while another person in America can follow the events in Libya. Satellite television has enabled sports lovers to follow their respective sports and the icons of the games have become household names. Satellites are being used for many other reasons like scientific enquiry and media coverage (Castells 45). It is thus unethical and absurd to the rest of the world when dictatorial regimes opposed to the changing times are still opposed to the freedom of the media. However, the internet-engineered revolutions have had a major impact on global peace and economy. In Egypt, there were rowd y mobs whose aim was looting. Egypt has one of the richest cultural heritage and artifacts. Historical artifacts were targeted by the looters, of which some are thousands and thousands of years old. Economy of Egypt has been greatly destabilized and the country might never recover. It is not guaranteed that the next government will be better than the Mubarak regime (Gross 1). Instead of violent revolution, it would be better if people used the social networks and the general media to tackle their problems together. It would be better to engage in diplomatic negotiation and other non-violent forms like the way business is being successively conducted on the internet. However, oppressive governments must be removed from power to ensure human rights are not violated and development initiatives are encouraged and supported. Works Cited Bergstorm, Guy. â€Å"Egypt: The First Twitter Revolution?† About .com, 2011. Beaumont, Peter. Can Social Networking overthrow a government? Sydne y: The Sydney Morning Herald, 2011. Castells, Manuel. End of Millennium: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. Sussex: John Wiley and Sons, 2010. Castells, Manuel. Communication Power. London: Oxford University Press. 2009. Gross, Karen. â€Å"After the Twitter Revolution: Democracy?† US Politics, 2011 Herman Edward Chomsky Noah. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media. New York: Pantheon Books. Hounshell Blake. â€Å"Think again: Egypt.† FP Foreign Policy, 2011 Hudson, John. The ‘Twitter Revolution’ Debate: The Egyptian Test Case. The Atlantic Wire, Jan 2011. Inoljt. â€Å"The Great Twitter/Face book Revolution Fallacy.† Fri Feb18, 2011 Johnson, Bridget. â€Å"Washington Reacts to Egypt Protest.† About.com, 2011 Raatma, Lucia. Social Networks. New York: Cherry Lake Publishers, 2010. Rheingold Howard Raatma, Lucia. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. New York: Basic Books, 2003. This essay on Twitter/Face Book revolution in Egypt was written and submitted by user Wyatt Gibson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

You Have the Right to Remain Silent Animal Rights Vs. The Need for Natural Products

You Have the Right to Remain Silent Animal Rights Vs. The Need for Natural Products Introduction: On the Relationships between People and Nature There is no need to mention the sad fact that the relationships between people and nature, including most of its elements, have been rather complicated, especially since the advent of technological progress and the consequent pollution issues.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on â€Å"You Have the Right to Remain Silent†: Animal Rights Vs. The Need for Natural Products specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to the humanist principles, animals must be granted the right to live, as well as the right to be treated in a humane way. However, in the late XX and early XXI century, with the progress of the humanist ideas peaking as they never have before, one of the aspects of the nature-vs.-nurture conflict has become especially debatable. Since in the age of democracy, it has become obvious that every single person has his/her own rights and freedoms, it h as been suggested that the concept of rights must be applicable not only to people, but also to every single living being, i.e., the animal world as well. Therefore, the given idea entails the prohibition of killing animals for the sake of fur, leather or food production (Fudge 75). Although modern technologies allow for creating artificial leather and fur, the problem of substituting meat remains open. Since most people are not ready to become vegetarian, giving animals an indefeasible right to live might be a hasty decision. From One Extreme to Another: From Beyond the Barricades It is worth admitting that both sides of the argument, i.e., the people who believe that animals should be given their indefeasible rights, as well as the people who do not consider it possible to provide animals with rights. To start with, the opinion of the proponents of animal rights crusade should be considered.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The reasons behind the actions of fighters for animal rights are quite simple. According to what the activists like PETA say, animals are living beings; they can feel pain, switch moods, display certain social behavior, and, therefore, must be provided with legal rights (Fox 203). Simple enough the given argument is still very convincing. The opponents of the fighters for animal rights often use the arguments of the latter to prove the point. According to what Cohen and Regan say, â€Å"for the advocates of animal rights in the strict sense, the utilitarian arguments of the ‘liberation’ camp are not only insecure but dangerous. In some cases, at last, the calculations of good and bad consequences of animal use is virtually certain to yield a result not favorable to the animals. But in such cases the liberationist defense of animals must collapse, resting as it does on the calculations of the worth of outcomes† (Cohen and Regan 8). It would be wrong, however, to consider that the arguments of those who are against providing animals with rights are restricted to nitpicking on the ideas of the animal rights proponents. As a rule, the key argument of the people who believe that animals do not need the human concept of rights is that in the animal kingdom, there is no concept of morality. Since rights arise in the sphere of the latter (Cohen and Regan 8), it can be considered that the concept of rights is inapplicable to any element of the animal kingdom, where morality as a notion does not exist and which is ruled by the key principle that only the strong survive (Jasper 170).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on â€Å"You Have the Right to Remain Silent†: Animal Rights Vs. The Need for Natural Products specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Another argument that the fighters for treating animals like animals provide to the organ izations like PETA is that animals are the only option for testing new medicine or conducting any other scientific experiments. Indeed, given the fact that there is no alternative to testing newly developed medicine on animals, providing animals with such rights as the right to live will ensue a number of murder cases if some of the experiments prove lethal. As a result, the newly created medicine will become less efficient and more dangerous to use, with a number of unpredictable side effects. As Cohen and Regan explain, The animal rights movement†¦ as I conceive it, is committed to a number of goals, including: the total abolition of the uses of animals in science; The total dissolution of commercial animal agriculture; The total elimination of commercial and sport hunting and trapping†¦ You don’t change unjust institutions by tidying them up. (Cohen and Regan 9) Finally, admitting animals to have legal rights will presuppose that animals will be â€Å"consider ed to have legal standing† (Fox 204), which, given the gap between the development of animals and people, is simply absurd. Therefore, the key reasoning provided by the opponents of the animal rights crusaders is that a) the concept of morals is inapplicable to animal world and 2) there is little to no alternative for the use of animals in medicine testing.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More My Opinion: Why Sustainable Approach Deserves to Be Applied Personally, I believe that the policy towards animals treatment must be less radical. To be more exact, it must be sustainable. To start with, it is crucial that animals should not be tortured in slaughterhouses and that the process of slaughter should be as quick and painless as possible. In addition, the laws concerning the maltreatment of animals must be revisited so that the people whose pets are being mistreated should be detected and that their pets should be taken to the animal shelter where they will be taken a proper care of. As for marketable fish, game birds, etc., there is no need to stress that people need these products to remain healthy. While protein can be obtained from the sources other than game bird and cattle, phosphorus contained in fish is not easy to replace with the phosphorus from any other sources. That being said, killing animals for the sake of providing people with the necessary minerals and vi tamins is inevitable, and no alternative for the given process has been found to this day (Hester and Harrison). Speaking of animals as resources various materials, such as fur, wool, leather, etc., one must mention that with the technological developments of the XXI century, providing the substitute for fur sand leather is relatively easy, which means that animals should not be used as the sources for various materials anymore. Once adopting the sustainable approach towards wild animals and providing the rules for treating domestic animals and pets in an appropriate way, setting the bar for the concept of â€Å"mistreatment,† one will be able to provide animals with their rights without infringing the rights of people. The Reasons for Holding the Universal Appeal: Why Giving Animals Rights Is not the Most Reasonable Idea The key idea that makes me choose the reasonable (i.e., sustainable) treatment of animals and a humanistic approach towards them instead of providing animal s with the rights that they deserve as much as people do is the fact that the need for animals to have rights comes from people’s concept of the universe. To be more exact, the problem is that these are not animals who demand their rights – these are people who demand rights for animals; the latter are not aware of the concept of rights at all. Therefore, the given situation can be regarded as an attempt to approach the principles of the animal world with the help of human morals, which is intrinsically wrong, seeing how animals do not have the concept of morals. As Fudge put it, Think for a moment about who asserts animals’ rights. Is it a laboratory rabbit, veal calf, or hunted fox? Not at all. Animal rights is exclusively asserted by society and it is intended to restrain human practices. It says that animals are morally the same as humans, and then asks humans to treat them as if they were human; it is up to us to struggle for animal rights because animals c annot fend for themselves. (Fudge 50) Therefore, it is impossible to approach the idea of animal rights from people’s perspective. Truly, in the light of the fact that people are equipped much better than animals, they should be more responsible about the means that they choose to build relationships with nature. However, there is a great difference between acknowledging the weakness of animals and, thus, being more responsible towards the wildlife and claiming that people have no rights to use animals for medicine testing, producing food, etc. Therefore, it is necessary not to be cruel towards animals, yet, unless an alternative for meat and medicine testing is provided, claiming that animals must not be killed will come at a price of many people’s lives. The Possible Objections: What Both Camps Have to Say It must be admitted that both camps will argue against the solution that I have provided. The fighters for animal rights will point at the fact that my solution pr esuppose treating animals as a resource instead of considering them beings with rights. Although the provided solution does allow to avoid cruelty in treating animals, it still fails to recognize their rights for the reasons mentioned above. The supporters of the idea that animals cannot have rights will consider the given solution as restrictive in that it does not allow to satisfy the tastes of people who would like to cater not only on tuna, but also on more exotic types of fish or animals and to enjoy natural fur. Therefore, their key argument may be that the provided solution infringes people’s rights, i.e., cares about animals better than it cares about people. In Response to the Counterarguments: Reasonability and Adequacy The latter argument can be argued by mentioning the fact that, though renewable, a number of natural resources, such as various species of animals, bird and fish, are endangered due to overconsumption. Therefore, it is in the interests of gourmets to abstain from eating exotic animals for a couple of years until certain species replenish their population. Hence, the provided solution takes both the interests of people and animals into account. As for the former argument, biologically, the human race is superior to any other species on the Earth, which means that people as superior beings must take care of animals instead of taking the campaign of animal rights to its absurd point. In addition, the issue concerning medicine testing, unfortunately enough, still remains open, which means that while other solutions are being sought for, animals will be used for experiments. Cohen, Carl and Tom Regan. The Animal Rights Debate. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield, 2001. Print. Fox, Michael Allen. The Case for Animal experimentation: An Evolutionary and Ethical Perspective. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1986. Print. Fudge, Erica. Animal. London, UK: Reaktion Books, 2002. Print. Hester, Ronald Ernest and Roy M. Harrison. A lternatives to animal Testing. Cambridge, UK: The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2006. Print. Jasper, James. The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1997. Print.

Strategic marketing management analysis & decisions (examination) Term Paper

Strategic marketing management analysis & decisions (examination) - Term Paper Example Initiative of the government to construct bicycle-specific routes and improves on roads further increase opportunities for more bicycle manufacturing. Seasonal changes and weather effects may discourage people from purchasing bicycles. In addition, high cost for bicycle development presents a threat to the company. Low market demand of the bicycles because of cheaper substitutes is a threat. Moreover, laws that govern some geographical areas do not allow the use of bicycles in such areas thereby posing a threat to the national industry. Difficulties in estimating safety properties of the bicycles and complexity of the application to some uses are threats to the company. The industry’s financial stability position offers a major strength to the company. Availability of skilled and quality employees of the Japan bicycle industry is strength of the company. Moreover, production of quality bicycles gives the company a good reputation thus strengthening the company. In addition, manufacture of user-friendly bicycles that are not complicated to the rider further increase the sales of bicycles. Japan bicycle industry ensures that the bicycles do not pollute the environment. The research and development department of the industry conduct excellent research on the needs of consumers and innovations that enhance manufacture of quality bicycles. *The industry does not provide safety measures to cyclists that may result in unskillful cycling in young people and accidents. The bicycles can be easily broken because of structural weakness. Moreover, competition from other manufacturers is a weakness to the company. The inability of increasing the visibility in customers presents a major weakness. The main objective of Japan national industry is to make profit by ensuring the sale of quality bicycles to the consumers. Japan industry has developed sustainable and achievable methods to help maintain their competitiveness in the market. The