The Impact of Social Media on Egyptian Culture

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THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON EGYPTIAN CULTURE

By Mariam Rafiq Youssef Elias FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Summer 2017

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THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON EGYPTIAN CULTURE By Mariam Rafiq Youssef Elias Chair: Professor Grizelle De Los Reyes Additional Reviewer: Professor Jessica Matias AN ACADEMIC THESIS PRESENTED TO THE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION OF FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

[Summer 2017]

I.ABSTRACT

In the light of social cognitive theory, this study examines how social media platforms have changed the Egyptian culture. It also borrows the rationale of uses and gratification theory to reason the motives behind the popularity of the viral topics and posts.

Most recent literature focused only on how political activism in Egypt was made possible through the online tools of social media; however the issue of how culture in general was modified beyond the political aspect was not covered.

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of social media on cultural production and social interaction in Egypt to cover this gap in recent literature. A survey of twenty (20) questions was used to gather quantitative data on the various platforms that Egyptians use, the topics that become viral in their virtual sphere, how they use social media and for what purposes. Two focus groups of dyads were conducted to understand whether social media is an individual or collective habit that couples and families could gather around.

The two (2) couples were Egyptians who are living abroad and they provided insights on the usage of online platforms, while living away from their home country. In-depth interviews were conducted with Ahmed Gharbia, an Egyptian blogger and founder of Arab Digital Expression Foundation, Tameem Youness, a host at Raseeni YouTube channel, Yoursa El Guindy, a researcher in the role of social media in political transitional periods and Noha Atef who is an online activist. These interviews were part of the qualitative research, which helped in revealing the history of the online cultural production and developed a thorough understanding of the aspect of participation and engagement in the Egyptian virtual world. The findings of the surveys, the focus groups and the interviews proved that social media has a palpable effect on the Egyptian culture as it provided an alternative platform for self-expression without the limitations of censorship and bureaucracy.

It showed that Egyptian Millennials are heavy consumers of social media and Facebook was the most mentioned platform in the qualitative and quantitative research. Based on the data collected, a more specialized research in topics such as Egyptian memes and taboos like online dating would be highly warranted in the future.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Abstract.......................................................................................................................... 4 II. Introduction................................................................................................................... 6 III. Background................................................................................................................. 8 IV. Literature Review........................................................................................................ 10 .

V. Theory Framework....................................................................................................... 12 VI. Primary Research........................................................................................................ 13 a. Research Objectives. b. Hypothesis c. Methods & Procedures. d. Sample e. Questions VII. Findings..................................................................................................................... a.Qualitative Research

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b.Quantitative Research VIII. Discussion................................................................................................................ 33 XII. Limitations................................................................................................................. 34 X. Recommendations......................................................................................................... 35 XI. Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 35 Appendix........................................................................................................................... 35 Bibliography...................................................................................................................... 54 Student Biography ........................................................................................................... 56

II-Introduction

According to media theorist Lev Manovish, the introduction of web 2.01 after 2005 has led to an explosion of user generated content on the web which made everyone a curator of culture and not just a consumer (Manovich, 2008). With the expansion of the internet for popular use in the mid-nineties, the web was a mere publishing medium where the users browsed through pages without the ability to edit or add to the content. Later in the 2000s, the Internet became a communication tool, especially with the introduction of social media platforms, forums, and blogspots used to share ideas and engage in conversations or even rate, review, and vote online (Manovich, 2008).

Manovich explains in his paper “The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life” that online behavior was the source used by power structures, marketers, and institutions to understand consumer motives and mindsets to drive digital innovation and engagement strategies. In other words, cultural trends, consumer digital habits, real world gaps, and fads have fueled the insights that feed product and communication innovations (Manovich, 2008). This trend became even more vivid after the introduction of social media and companies such as Facebook, Google and other applications started to introduce various features that follow the user’s experience and interactivity with the software.

While Egyptians did not contribute to the early architecture of the Internet, they created a virtual local culture which reflected the trends and topics of conversation of the time. Above all, it is well documented how the Egyptians used social media networks to spark a movement that resisted years of a rigid and stagnant political system. Thanks to the 70’s “open door policy,” 2 the 80s and 90s ushered a time of economic expansion as Egyptian president, Anwer El Sadat, led the country from a socialist to a mixed public-private economy (Mc Laughlin, 1978). Especially after years of closed market under the Egyptian president Gamal Abd El Nasser’s regime between1956 to 1970, consumerism had its own flair. Consumption and class comparison became palpable concerns for many, due to labor migration to the gulf countries, extensive inflation, and social mobility (Amin, 2007).

This era created a certain allure to exported objects, whether they were battery-operated toys, canned food, fashion trends, or electronic appliances. Foreign imports had the tendency to easily become part of the Egyptian cultural fabric. For example, objects manufactured in the Far East gained a hegemonic supremacy, such as the red Suzuki Swift car in the mid 1990’s, which promptly became part of the urban landscape of the city.

The introduction of video games created an environment of social sharing among the Egyptian youth and Nintendo’s Super Mario, Namco’s Pac-Man, Prince of Persia, Sony’s PlayStation, and Atari’s Jumpman were the most popular. Also, the introduction of several entertainment parks, cafés, and clubs around 1996 (Susan, 1998), offered opportunities for video game enthusiasts to play in communities. In the nineties, youth gathered frequently at sport clubs, video renting shops, cyber spaces, and discos or pubs. Entertainment and socializing were the main drivers to meet but also sharing computers became an alternative with the introduction of home devices. Video games were usually played in competitive matches for the highest score. Internet cafes and cyber 1

“Web 2.0” is a term coined by Tim O’ Reilly in 2004 referring to internet after social media and user-generated platforms.

The open door policy or the “Infitah” is referred to the economic and political polices of Egyptian president Anwer El Sadat that opened the country for foreign investments after signing the peace treaty with Israel.

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7 clubs became the first hubs for early digital congregation and networking became a major part of the experience.

Nothing was as compelling as the dominance of the two (2) main channels of the Egyptian national television.

Appointment television and popular talk shows were the early trendsetters in Egyptian culture, from décor to clothes. However, all these emblems began to lose their enigma with the sudden boom in telecommunications and the Satellite transmission of the ARABSAT and NILESAT in July 1996. The generation born in the 1980’s, also referred to as Millennials, had unexposed childhood with limited local media channels followed by a sudden disclosure and diverse alternatives in their adolescence. Perhaps for that reason, no other generation has passed through paradoxical phases of belief between globalization and traditions.

Cartoons were imported from all over the world with Arabic voiceovers creating an alternate universe of exported entertainment meeting the Egyptian reality. Additionally, the appetite for imported content shaping the Egyptian psyches continued with the influx of Hollywood’s science fiction films such as ET, Armageddon, Independence Day, action thrillers like Mission Impossible and romantic films such as The Bodyguard or Titanic. The same phenomenon was observed from 1992 to1994 with USproduced television soap opera The Bold & The Beautiful, which aired on Channel 2 at 8:45pm.

This entire thrill was then substituted with Conspiracy Theory, a born paranoia over globalization at the turn of the millennium and especially after the turmoil of September 11and the war on Iraq. A new nationalism grew to assert Egyptian identity and pride. Egyptians manufacturers started displaying “Made by Egyptian Hands” or 100% Egyptian to their slogans.This was hyped with the writings of American intellects, Thomas Friedman and his famed book “The Lexus and The Olive Tree” and Samuel P. Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations”. Both books explained how the tension between globalization and cultural identity marked a new era of the world’s eco- nomic and technological system. And since then, the discussion about “the other”, Occidentalism and even the true Arab identity never stopped.

In a developing country like Egypt, not many were able to afford a personal laptop, pay regular fees for the Internet accessibility or software, as a result, Internet cafes or university labs became an alternative.This has created an entrepreneurial boom among Egyptian middle-class youth which fueled the rapid growth to over 900 internet cafes in 2005. This was the highest number of Internet Cafés in the Arab region and in the African continent during this period. (Sherif 2005). Currently, even slum areas have an Internet café ,which in turn, fuels an interest among the Egyptian youth in Information Technology related careers.Besides providing Internet accessibili- ty with higher costs, Internet cafes offered training and sold technology related devices such as headphones, microphones and mouses. With more affordability accessibility, cyberspaces have become venues for networking and gaming youth. Currently, most Egyptian cities have Internet cafes and mostly centralized in Cairo and Alexandria.

This digital diffusion in the Egyptian society has created an interesting and diverse virtual sphere which reflects the Egyptian reality in a conscious or sublime level. Digital data is vulnerable, as hardware quickly becomes obsolete and software memory cannot be preserved. For example, no one uses ICQ for chatting anymore, webpages are forever changing and floppy disks are unreadable by up-to-date computers. Similarly, content produced on webpages and social media can be easily deleted thus erasing valuable archived information.

The potentially fleeting nature of these online platforms can lead to the loss of important generational data which can affect the ones that follow. Documenting and analyzing virtual movements are crucial to trace the socio-political changes in the Egyptian contemporary society and under-stand motives, behaviors and resulting reactions.The aim of this paper is to research how the Internet became a hub and a platform for self-expression and new ideas which have ultimately influenced the mainstream media, popular culture and social habits in Egyptian society. In this research, the reader will discover how the Egyptians used YouTube, Facebook groups, hashtags, and blogs to criticize the cultural status quo and revolts on their traditional manners.

III-Background

Like many inventions, the diffusion of the Internet in Egypt started with universities and academia. In October 1993, the Egyptian Universities’ Network (EUN), the Cabinet of Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) and the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC) developed the infrastructure for Internet in Egypt. This was implemented by the National Telephone Organization which provided the infrastructure for a cable connection to these institutions limited to two thousand (2000) users ( Abdullah 2007).

By 1994, the Egyptian Internet traffic was divided into three (3) major sub domains: (Eun.eg) for the Egyptian Universities Network, (Sci.egsci.eg) serving the scientific research institutes and (gov.eg) for governmental entities. They were limited to providing accessibility to their members. Commercial penetration of the Internet was not available and there was only one service provider called “In Touch” which provided email delivery through a US-based server. (Kamel 1998).

When Egypt hosted the International Conference on Population and Development in September 1994 with over 15,000 participants, a faster Internet connection was provided through a link from Europe and supervised by IDSC and RITSEC. The real breakthrough happened in the 1996, as the Internet started to become accessible to the masses with increased bandwidth and faster connections. IDSC and RITSEC started to grant connection to private service providers under the “Com.eg” domains (Abdullah 2007).

By the end of 1996, Internet Service Providers had reached forty (40) and spread across Cairo, Alexandria, Sinai, and the Red Sea. Prices increased to reach twenty (20) or hundred (100) Egyptian pounds per month and the local telephone company charged communication fees per minute rather than fixed fees. The Internet became an expensive privilege with accessibility through a modem and a dial up account. Consequently, hacking emerged to steal the passwords of accounts or to spread viruses to their computers (Abdullah 2007).

In October 1999, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was established and named Ahmed Nazif as director. Nazif, who is a Ph.D holder in Computer Engineering from MC-Gill, set as a goal in 2002, to spread the knowledge of Information Technology in Egypt and reduce the cost of connectivity with free Internet access through sixty-eight (68) Internet service providers (Abdullah 2007).

Public accessibility was improved by providing low-priced computer machines that were sold by private producers through the Egyptian Telecommunications Company. It is also worth mentioning that the Nazif’s cabinet that branded itself as “ The Smart Government” or the “E-government”, was dropped after Facebook users called for the 25th of January 2011 uprising and especially on the day of the shutdown of the Internet stream (Abdullah 2007).

Since the access cost reduction, most Internet service providers started competing, by offering faster connections, better customer service, and additional services such as e-mails, SMS, or ringtones at no charge. One of the most famous dial up services was Ahmed Bahget’s 07775000, which became known after its TV commercials featuring a cartoon character called “Big Faraferro” with a catchy jingle. TE-data and LINKdotNET were also among the largest of these ISPs and by November 2002, twenty-six (26) Egyptian cities had free Internet access ( Abdullah 2007).

9 In the early 2000s, fast access broadband services became available, such as the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) service, as an added feature to the existing normal telephone line which converts the normal, analog, and slow telephone line to a fast and digital one.

Another addition was the implementation of ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) technology in Egypt and later wireless connection that changed the history of online activity. It introduced the idea of spontaneity and 24/7 availability, while restrictions in place and time were diminished.

In April of 2008, ADSL+2 was introduced in Egypt with faster connectivity, but later a “Fair Usage Policy” was applied to all ISPs, which was a quota between hundred (100) GB and hundred and fifty (150) GB per month and caused a huge stir among peer-to-peer users. Beside the governmental and private efforts in improving the awareness for information technology, several inter-government organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) also played an influential part ( Abdullah 2007).

One of these projects was cybercafés for the poor, as they launched Technology Access Community Centers (TACCs) in underprivileged Egyptian cities. TACC had several projects such as providing Internet accessibility in rural peripheral areas, enhancing IT business, and development of web pages in Arabic. It is also worth mentioning that Egypt hosted several annual international conventions since 1996 such as CAINET, Cairo Telecom, Comdex, GItex, and Cairo ICT, which played a role in exposing Egyptians to the latest technological inventions (Abdullah 2007).

Another important project was the registration of more than thousand (1000) IT clubs in collaboration with several non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and the government. These non-governmental organizations were characterized by their concern about the contribution of the future Arab generations in the IT industry such as ADEF or Arab Digital Expression foundation, S3Geeks, and Hypatia. One of ADEF’s major activities is the Digital Expression Camps that they have been organizing since 2007. These camps are held following the tradition of an initiative that was organized by the Giza Engineering company established in 1985 to teach youth self-expression through digital mediums.

Summer camps

by ADEF or Arab Digital Expression foundation that aims to increase digital literacy by younger generation.

IV.Literature Review

Online Activism After the Arab Spring 3, Egypt became a hot topic in scholarly papers and literature in general as many became interested in researching the online political activism movements that led to the uprising. This was illustrated in books like “Tweets from Tahrir”, “Revolution in The Age of Social Media,” and “From Twitter to Tahrir Square” that appeared focusing on how social media platforms contributed in toppling the regime and giving people a voice. It was believed that the political movements happened suddenly led by the digital generations.

However, not much is known about how viral posts such as videos, memes or popular hashtags became part of the 3A term coined to refer to the consecutive regime change in the Arab World that occurred after the Tunisian Revolution in 2010. popular Egyptian culture offline.Very little research was conducted to examine the political websites or blogs before the uprising in 2011.

For-example, before Facebook pages like “We are all Khaled Said” or “6th of April” that led to the Egyptian revolution, there were blogs and forums where people opened topics that were con- sidered taboo in the Egyptian society. These platforms were both, a self-expression tool and movement organizing mechanism. Because the Internet is an open space, it became an alternative media for people to communicate.

In their article “The Arab Spring: Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering Resource Mobilization Theory”, Nahed El Tantawy and Julie Wiest examine the use of social media in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution in light of the utility of resource mobilization theory.

In “Egypt’s Ongoing Uprising and the Role of Social Media: Is there Development?”, Sherif H. Kamel argues that it was not the social media platforms that provoked change, but rather the people who capitalized on the technological advancements to attain political reform.

In another article investigating the same topic, Merlyna Lim argues in her research “ Clicks, Cabs, and Coffee Houses: Social Media and Oppositional Movements in Egypt, 2004 – 2011” that social media helped several opposition leaders such as Kefaya and 6th of April to exist on- line and on-ground shaping repertoires of contention.

Published articles like “ From Lambs to Lions: Self-Liberation and Social Media in Egypt” by Rodolfo Diaz or “ You Can’t Stop The Signal” by Mahmoud Salem, also hail social media as a catalyst to give the youth a voice and assist in resisting against the authoritarian regime.

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A term coined to refer to the consecutive regime change in the Arab World that occurred after the Tunisian Revolution in 2010.

11 In the book “ From Twitter to Tahrir Square” by Vala A. Must and Jim Willis, the authors discuss how today’s traditional media is facing challenges to report news in a fast and honest means, which is a direct result of social media regular users becoming grassroots journalists to reveal public sentiment and expose corruption at all levels.

“Cyberprotest: New media, Citizens, and Social Movements” by Wim Van de Donk, Brian D Loader, Paul Nixon, and Dieter Rucht which investigates how the Internet is facilitating new forms of social movements and political activism globally.“Tweets and the Streets” by Paolo Gerbaudo archives how social media served as the catalyst that provoked movements such as the Arab uprising, the protests in Spain and the Occupy movement in the United States. Peter Dahlgren wrote in his book “The Poltical Web” that all these movements filled the gap of the lack of democracy in many countries and created a global civil society that has a role in being accountable to governments.

The Information Society Many researchers were interested in understanding the online natives in general, such as Armand Mattelart in his book “The Information Society”. His theory examines the trans-disciplinary repercussions of the Internet, creating what he called “interactive democracy” and contributing to the knowledge industry in general.

In an interdisciplinary manner,“Understanding the Web” by Alan B Albarran and David H Goff examines the Internet’s effect on issues such journalism, privacy, security, intellectual property, power differentials and cultural paradigms. The book concludes that mass media served a dominative vision of massification, while the hypermedia of the web created a fragmented world and uncentralized marketplace which promoted individualism over a mass homogenized society.

Finally, in the book, “The Culture of Connectivity”, Jose Van Dijck makes the connection between the social culture that online platforms created and the behaviors that were developed by users of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It also examines the ideological principles of the online virtual sphere.

Another interesting book is “The Cult of The Amateur”, in which the writer Andrew Keen argues that today’s Internet is killing culture. Unlike all internet believers, Keen is a pessimist and blames the web for creating platforms such as Wikipedia which allows unexperienced amateurs to be part of the contemporary intellectual collective history.

None of the authors researched the role of humor in memes, the pages that were opened to archive photos of Egypt in the past, the content of the most viral posts or the phenomena of YouTube vloggers with massive followers. This paper contributes to literature on how social networks changed culture in Egypt and created a paradigm shift by exposing the hegemony of powerful elites through using alternative curated media.

Theory Framework

The research was conducted in the light of Social Cognitive Theory, which explains the process of an individual’s knowledge acquisition developed by observing others in the context of interaction and other environmental factors. It was chosen to analyze the psychosocial mechanism where digital culture had influenced the human thought, affect, and action.

Through this theory, the paper aims to understand how social diffusion of new behaviors were shaped by Egyptian online influencers by providing an alternative digital platform which encouraged participation. The paper establishes which socio-cognitive factors have contributed to the curation of digital social content within the Egyptian culture. The Uses and Gratification Theory (Blumer & Katz, 1974) is also used to understand the difference between active participants and spectators. The paper establishes which socio-cognitive factors have contributed to the curation of digital social content within the Egyptian culture It is an intriguing speculation of why a small percentage of internet users provide the majority of the content and their motivations to do so. It is proposed that some users favor some platforms over others for social interaction, nformation seeking, pass time, entertainment, relaxation, communicatorry utility, convenience utility, expression of opinion, information sharing, and surveillance/knowledge about others (Lampe, 2010).

Cognitive Factors Influence on thoughts and actions

Social Cognitive Theory Behaviour Environmental Factors culture and strategies, communication policies.

Less motivated, pressure of less, power,influence on thoughts and action.

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Primary Research

A. Research Objectives In order to understand how social media has created a paradigm shift in Egypt by changing the production of culture in political activism, mass media and their value systems in general, primary research was conducted with the following objectives: 1. Understand how Egyptians use social media and for what purposes.

2. Understand if Egyptians online behavior is restricted to passive viewership or active participation.

3. Observe the main popular social contributions that became viral or had an impact at the grassroots level in Egypt.

4. Identify key topics that shaped the content of the Egyptian virtual sphere.

5. Explore whether online public figures had a hegemonic effect on culture.

B. Hypothesis Social media had a great impact on culture as it changed the cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors that Egyptians are exposed to, by exposing them to the global online world. This has allowed them to be active rather than participants who are dictated from one source of information under the authoritarian regimes.

C.Methods and Procedures A mixed-methods approach was used. Initially, a content analysis was conducted to assess the data available online such as memes, videos, and posts, as well as thematic patterns. Additionally, an online survey and qualitative dyad in-depth interviews were conducted. Due to the time constraints, the qualitative and quantitative researches were done through convenience sampling.

I.Quantitative Research The survey consisted of sixty (60) responses aimed to understand consumer online behavior, the type of content shared, users’ demographic and their perception of social media in general. The survey questionnaire was distributed to Egyptians only, regardless of their age, gender and level of education.

To avoid potential bias, survey questionnaires were distributed randomly online and responses were collected anonymously. The survey consisted of ten (10) multiple choices and five (5) questions Likert scale options: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strongly Agree. There were also four (4) open-ended questions

that allow the participants to express their opinions. Participants were screened at the beginning of the survey based on their social media usage.

II,Qualitative Research The dyads were conducted separately with two different couples who live outside Egypt to understand how they behave differently on social media when they are outside the country and whether consuming social media is an individual or collective behavior that encourages group or family participation.

In-depth interviews with experts and online activists were also conducted as part of the qualitative research. The participants included Ahmed Gharbia, a blogger and founder of the open source foundation “ADEF”, Youssra El Guindy who has previously done a research on how so- cial media has affected mobilization, blogger Noha Atef who wrote a lot on the issue of police brutality in Egypt and YouTube blogger, Tameem Youness who owns a viral online show called “ Raseni” and is a well-known name in advertising.

I.Quantitative Research Sample

C- Sample:

The survey respondents were equally divided between genders with females make up a majority of fifty-nine percent (59%). ά=1; M = 1.41, SD=0.49). Most participants were Millennials as seventy-two percent (72%) aged between thirty to forty-four (44) years old and fifteen percent (15%) between eighteen to twenty-nine (18-29) years old. Only, seven percent (7%) were above sixty plus (60+) or between forty-five to fifty-nine (45-59) age bracket. (ά =3; M =3.05, SD =0.71). These statistics may explain why the majority used social media daily.

All the participants were educated, as sixty-one percent (61%) obtained a bachelor’s degree and thirty-one percent (31%) have their master’s degree, four percent (4%) completed their doctoral degree and six percent (6) were

What is your gender?

Female

Male

15 high school graduates. (ÎŹ =5; M =5.26, SD =0.76). Fifty percent (50%) of the participants were married while thirty-nine (39%) were single or cohabiting with a significant other. (ÎŹ =2; M =3.59, SD =2.76).

What is your age?

Under 18 18 - 29

30 - 44

45 - 59

60+

What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed?

Which of the following best describes your current relationship status?

Married

Widowed Divorced

Separated In a domestic partnership Single,but cohabiting w

Single, but cohabiting w Single, never married

I.Qualitative Research Sample All four (4) participants in the dyads were Egyptian Millennials between the age of twenty-nine to thirty-eight (29 to 38) and residing in the United States. They were married, educated and financially independent couples.

The main focus was the effect of social media on family dynamics of Egyptians living outside of Egypt.

1. Group 1: 29-year-old female and 34-year-old male, residing in West Palm Beach, Florida. Both have completed their MBAs from Harvard University.

2. Group 2: 34-year-old female, 38-year-old male, residing in San Francisco, California and working at Apple and respectively DELL.

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VII. FINDINGS

I.Quantitative Research Educated Egyptian Millennials consume social media heavily: Ninety-nine percent (99 %) of the participants said they have a social media account (ÎŹ =1; M =1.02, SD =0.13) and ninety-five (95%) use social media daily ((ÎŹ =1; M =1.10, SD =0.53).

How oftern do you use social media?

Daily

Weekly

Occasionally

Rarely

I never used social media.

95.08 %

Facebook is the most prominent platform among users.

Forty-four percent (44%) of the participants said they prefer Facebook. Each user had a different preference for a platform, but the majority appeared to be using Facebook. A reason for this could be the age bracket of most participants who are Millennials, but also it reveals how Egyptians are still attached to Facebook. An option was left for users to state other platforms be- side the given multiple choices and many people had a combination of three such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin or Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Other used platforms such as Pinterest, WhatsApp, Viber, Google+, Snapchat ,Tumblr, YouTube, Tinder, Messenger, and Xing.

Which social media platform do usually use ? For multiple answers, mention all your choices in the bar below Facebook Instagram Twitter Snapchat Blogs Tinder All the above Most of the above.Spec Other (please specify)

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Why do you use social media platforms? For multiple answers, mention all your choices in the bar below To communicate and know about To express my opnions As a source of information To engage in collective For entertainment Online Dating Chatting

All the above Other ( please specify)

To communicate and get friends’ updates are the main motives for using social media.

Seventeen percent (17%) of the respondents selected “To communicate and know about others” as the reason why they use social media. Many preferred to choose “all the above”, which included expressing opinions, accessibility to information, participation in collective events and entertainment. In an open-ended question, people expressed other motives such as seeking inspiration, following news whether general or friends’ updates and feeding personal interests. What was interesting in the findings is the lack of popularity of chatting and online dating. In the responses, many people answered that they use social media for all the mentioned reasons in the multiple choices except online dating. This explains why two people only mentioned their use of Tinder as a social media platform.

Revealing one’s true identity is preferred over hiding under anonymous name.

Although the Internet gives a space for being anonymous and hiding behind a different persona, only twelve percent (12%) said that they opened an account using a screen name or nickname that was not theirs. Only three (3) of this percentage explained their reasons which included: for discretion purposes or to hide from people especially if the platform is not professional. One of the responses mentioned that his/her Twitter handle has a different fake name, but that he/she can’t remember the reason for doing this as it was created long time ago.

“Probably no reason,” added the respondent.

Have you opened an account or page using a screen name or nickname that is not yours?

Yes

No

Online participation is equally divided between active and passive users: Interestingly, the sample was equally divided between those who participate in online discus- sions, groups or forums and those who don’t. Forty-nine percent (49%) admitted their online contribution and fifty percent (50%) said they don’t engage in commenting, while one respon- dent skipped. ((ά =2; M =1.52, SD =0.50).

Do you participate in online discussions,reviews,groups,pages or forums...etc?

Yes

No

21 It is agreed that social media gave Egyptians the freedom to speak without awareness Most people agreed that social media has encouraged Egyptians to participate in collective events on the streets such as rallies, strikes, marathons, or any public event. Twenty percent (20%) of the respondents said they strongly agree and fifty-seven (57%) agreed with this state- ment. Also thirty-five percent (35%) strongly agreed on the issue that social media had a great impact on the Egyptian culture and forty-three (43%) marked that they agree.

The majority also agreed that social media gave the Egyptians the freedom to speak their mind, with forty-nine percent (49%) of the respondents choose “agree” and twenty-eight percent (28%) marked “strongly agree” as their answer. Almost sixty percent (60%) refuted the idea that the Egyptians became more cultured, educated, and globally aware because of social media.

Social media had a great impact on the Egyptian culture Social media is a reflection of the Egyptian culture and society.

Social media encouraged Egyptians to participate in collective” events on the streets ( ex: rally, strikes, marathon, street parties..etc).

Social media gave Egyptians the freedom to speak their mind.

Social media made Egyptians more cultured, educated and globally aware.

Popular posts are the most engaging online among Egyptians.

Most people ranked “ popular” as the type of posts Egyptians share on social media the most, followed by a “familiar” type of post or “relatable”. It is worth mentioning that many respon dents agreed that people share local issues more than global ones. Anonymous scored the least type of posts people share and many saw that Egyptian posts are shallow or delusional, but provoking and innovative.

In your opinion,what makes a post on social media highly engaging and viral in Egypt ? Rank your answers so that 1 is the most common type of posts and 12 is the least Anonymous Popular Factual Delusional Global Local Provoking Familiar Innovative Relatable Enlightening Shallow

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Rank the issues that you think Egyptians share the most on social media.

Recipes or their daily...

Political issues Human rights issues Personal opinions Personal daily thoughts Fun facts Memes Sarcastic videos Scandal stories TV & entertainment Arts & culture Articles Religious posts Social problems Traveling memoirs Fashion

Most respondents agreed that political issues are the most viral posts online.

Egyptians are concerned about politics as thirty-eight percent (38%) chose it as the first or sec- ond sharable topic and it was also the answer of all focus group participants. Comedy was also a chosen subject by many as sarcastic videos, fun facts, and memes scored relatively high in the list of multiple choices. Finally, many viewed “personal opinions” and “religious issues” as the type of posts that can easily become viral online.

In open-ended questions in the survey, participants were asked to specify certain pages of interest and their answers resonated with their multiple choices as religious and political groups were mentioned. Sarcasm was also a palpable theme in their answers since many praised Bassem Youssef, the sarcastic TV host as their favorite online show. Another popular answer was the meme “Kermet the Frog” that appears to make fun of Egyptian’s social problems.

Bassem Youssef hosted by John Stuart who inspired him to start his own sarcastic online show. Many survey respondents chose Bassem Youssef as the most influential online figure.

Photo translates: “One of the good things of being single is spending all your money on food”. An example of the Egyptian meme featuring “Kermet the Frog” that criticizes social issues. Many respondents wrote that the meme is very popular and they follow it.

25 Social media changed Egyptian cultural values, had an impact on popular culture and was a platform for a specific type of content and posts.

Do you think social media has changed Egyptian cultural values?

Yes

No

The above chart captures survey responses showing that sixty-three percent (63%) agreed that social media has changed Egyptian cultural values. A comment box was provided as part of the question for further explanation.

The reasons varied as some saw that social media has positively changed Egyptian cultural values and others perceived it as a negative effect. The responses included the following : • “ Social Media did not change Egyptian cultural values but highlighted it.”

• “ This is not a fact, but my personal opinion is that social media provided a platform to have an unreal persona and eventually people change in real life as they get affected by their virtual persona.”

• “ Women got more freedom to express their opinions and people started to know each other better.”

• “ It helped in changing people’s ethics and behavior in a bad way. In other words, they are not concerned anymore by humanity, manners and good personalities. What grabs their attention is shallow thinking.”

The majority agreed that social media had an impact on Egyptian pop culture.

Do you think these online initiatives on social media had an impact on Egyptian pop culture?

Yes

No

Around eighty percent (80%) agreed that online posts had an impact on Egyptian pop culture.

The respondents provided a written explanation for their opinions which included the following: • “ Due to the accessibility of social media to a large portion of the population, it impacted pop culture especially in sectors of fashion, arts, music and entertainment in general.”

• “ Except for Bassem Youssef, the range of influence is still limited compared to the population census.”

• “ It was a source of motivation for many people to try and share their thoughts.”

• “ It made Egyptians more politically aware, or at the very least willing to engage and read in politics more.”

• “ Making sarcastic jokes about political crisis became an online and offline trend.”

• “ Egyptian pop culture is still driven by TV and commercial interests, not art or independent thinkers.”

• “ Egyptians are becoming more shallow and unethical because of social media.”

• “Unfortunately yes! Trashy jokes, trashy taste and swearing became cool after social media.”

27

Do you think the type of content produced by these online initiatives was only possuible because of social media?

Yes

No

Social media was a platform for a new type of content.

The above chart shows that more than eighty percent (80%) agreed that the type of content produced online was only possible because of social media. The reasons of their answer choices were explained in a comment box and included the following: • “ The fact that this content was broadcasted via free, uninfluenced media made it successful.”

• “ Comedians used to write for years but gained popularity after social media only.”

• “ Social media is a huge accessible platform that is inexpensive and does not have any rules.”

• “The emergence of the fashionistas and influencers phenomenon would have never taken place without social media.”

• “ Bassem Youssef is a great example of a figure whose courage was only possible online.”

• “ Social media is a more interactive method of outreach than the television, which is more uniform in its content.”

• “ It helped any type of content to go viral.”

• “ Content on social media circulates faster than older methods.”

• “Social media provided an overview to different categories from the Egyptian community.”

II. Qualitative Research Survey answers were explained more in the focus group as the participants expressed how social media revealed the way people think in a manner that was not possible through everyday face to face communication. Focus group question: Do you think social media has opened issues that were taboos in the Egyptian society and How? • “Yes of course, social media provided a lot of awareness towards women’s rights and how they are perceived in our culture. It revealed the various religious beliefs and how people perceive religion.”

• “Speaking your mind about religion and commenting on incidents of persecution against the Copts or expressing one’s opinion about the other was impossible before social media.”

• “I was shocked to know the extreme opinions of my friends.”

The hashtag “#thisisegypt” was mentioned in both the survey and focus group answers as a type of a popular post used by many on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The hashtag was part of a campaign by the ministry of tourism but was adopted by many people to post their own internal travel memoirs. Focus group participants explained why they like it: • “ I never tweeted under any hashtag except “#thisisegypt”, as I like to promote the nice places in my country and I never use it to counter or refute this idea like many people do.”

• “ Can you take a wild guess? I think the hashtag “ This is Egypt” became popular as it was funded by the government.”

An example of how people use the hashtag #thisisegypt on social media.

29 The regular consumption of social media was also reflected in the focus groups, as the participants revealed that they log in on social media every day. One of the participants in the focus group answered that she only uses social media two (2) hours a day, which she considered a little amount of time in comparison to others.

It was noticed in the focus groups that each time social media is mentioned, Facebook was the first platform that would come into their minds as participants will answer accordingly.

Focus group question: Which social media platform do you use the most and why?

• “ I prefer to use Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as they are easy to use and their privacy settings are always enhanced.”

• “ Twitter is impersonal! I like Facebook more as I want to know what people are doing.”

• “I do not like Snapchat as it is not user friendly and I like to keep and archive my posts.”

• “ People living abroad like to use Facebook to communicate with family and friends back home. It is also very rare to find Generation Z on Facebook, they prefer other platforms. ” Researcher Youssra El Guindy explained the reason of the popularity of Facebook in-depth as she said the number of users on the platform was also a reason to why it was successful.

• “ I guess without this huge number of members on Facebook, it would not have gained its popularity as interactivity is the main feature that people are looking for. The forums, for example, were closed and one has to be a member to connect where everything was highly centralized under the control of the admin. As an example, Facebook is handier than HI5 or My-Space. Facebook did two important issues; first, it introduced interactivity and second, it had a variety of both content and tools of participation.

It made anybody a potential producer and curator of events, posts, and articles that are user-generated. Not only, it brought people together, it removed the distinction between an activist and a follower. Now, news become viral for different reasons than before. For example, a short post with visuals is more engaging than a factual article written explicitly on an official page. If a post became viral, its creator automatically gains popularity.”

The women in the focus groups expressed their interest in pages specialized for females such as “What Women Want” or “Confessions of a Married Woman”. One of the partici- pants of the dyads explained that groups catered for mothers only, has helped her a lot in how to raise children and understand issues in this new stage of life. She now could participate in explaining and answering questions for other women in these closed groups. The participant joined different groups in both Egypt and the United States as she lived in both countries.

• “Women’s groups in the United States are more informative, as members tries to direct each other to various sources. However, groups for mothers in Egypt tend to send warning messages all the time and are more open to confess personal problems, whether by posting it directly to the group or sending it privately to the admin.”

• “ Women’s groups are interesting as they show real stories and publish them anonymously.”

Image on the left illustrates an example of a post in a mother’s group in Egypt with a warning. Image on the right illustrates an example of a post in a female’s group in the United States of America for an event. Both were provided by a focus group participant. ( Elias, M.Focus Group.May,2017)

31 The in-depth interviews provided a thorough explanation on how social media impacted Egyptian culture.

Blogger Ahmed Gharbia agreed social media changed the public opinion and was the reason for spreading fake news. He views the online platforms as catalysts towards cultural and political change but not the main factor. Interview Question: Do you agree that social media provoked cultural and political change in Egypt?

• “ Social media did have an impact on public opinion and was the reason for spreading fake news. This has always been the case, as long as there is a medium that is not centralized or controlled by a certain regime, anyone can write anything with no proof check. Social media helped in the spread of fake news, as the number of people participating with various content have increased dramatically. It is said that one million users have entered Facebook within one month after the Egyptian revolution in 2011.

The government, on the other hand, did not care to use the Internet before the uprising and they did not understand the core of these groups or how they work. Pages that belonged to the government were not effective enough, since the activity of an employee would never be like an amateur who writes his opinions. In fact, the professional commentator who does it as a job is worthless and most initiatives of creating professional journalistic blogs that belonged to newspapers were copy and paste from each other.

These professional blogs were not able to sustain as they were not used of being criticized or their articles analyzed and checked for credibility. The blogger, on the other hand, is used to defend his point in several comments or change his stance if it did not convince the reader. So the result was the closure of these blogs in less than a month, which proves the disability of the mainstream press to use social media.”

• “ Social media might be the main catalyst, but there is no single entity that solely did the revolution. Social media was highly successful in mobilization, but before Facebook pages, there were some series of demonstrations in the streets. It is a series of incidents and actions that created the bigger picture of the story towards cultural change in the Egyptian society.”

Yousra El Guindy who did a research on how social media was used in mobilizing Egyptians during the revolution, views the effect of social media on Egyptian culture as positive but a shallow one. Interview Question: In your opinion, social media has impacted the Egyptian culture or vice versa?

• “ Social media introduced several new aspects to the Egyptian culture, one of which is positive mobilization.

Surely, mobilization cannot exist online alone. Social media can provoke the first spark but without physical existence, change will not happen.

Another important point to cultural shift is the cult that exists on the Internet, because people trust social media more than anything else since it is their friends who are posting on it. In my opinion, Egyptians have participated in the 25th of January uprising, not because of an event on the page “We are All Khaled Said”, but because their friends are part of it and posting about it. On the Internet, everybody becomes a potential campaigner, which creates a social pressure. This is the negative theory of mobilization or what is called the “Cute Cat” theory of political activism.

To explain, social media has what is called information of cascades. For example, when one of your friends likes a page or shows that he is going to an event that would encourage you to do the same and so on like a snowball

effect. Another good example of that is the page entitled “Uprising of Arab Women”, where many women imitated the admin by sharing a photo of themselves holding a sign saying that they are with the uprising of Arab women without understanding what it means or being political aware.

Although the impact of social media on cul- ture is positive, yet its effect is very shallow. Many youth has gained their political understanding from reading newsfeed on Facebook and thus, it lacked depth. That’s why many activists and bloggers find that whatever happened on social media was negative as participation lacked political insights and knowledge. This proves that the mentality of a blogger differs a lot from a Facebook activist. A blogger knows ahead what is happening more than anybody else and would expose cases that cannot be mentioned by mass media, but are not keen on creating mobilization. While Facebook pages push everyone to be engaged and take action without creating a real social or political awareness.”

Writer and political activist Noha Atef agreed that social media created a fragmented society and believes that the Internet created a new visual culture. Interview Question: Do you think social media can create an unsociable society?

• “ Social isolation is not only in Egypt. Two years ago, filmmaker Andrew Moore had a theory that the bloggers are unsociable bunch of people who are sitting at home with their wires. I believe that the Internet did not change social habits, as even in the past some people did not have the social skills and used to stay at home to do knitting. Now, unsociable people spend most of their time online and I expect the coming generation to be more isolated and antisocial.”

Interview Question: What were the significant findings in your research on social media for your PHD degree?

• “ The Internet created a new visual language as new fonts appeared and the importance of colors was prevailed.

Also, sarcasm started to have a significant presence through memes and artists who publish their comics online without the boundaries of the print media such as the artists Hani Shams, Amr Okasha, and Makhlouf.”

As an art director and visual communicator, Tameem Youness believes that the virtual world is now inseparable from real life. Interview Question : In your opinion, how are the new social media platforms different from programs that were popular before the web 0.2 ?

• “ The Internet is divided into two phases, the first was before the DSL and this was limited to playing games online and later, WIFI took the online practices to a different level and changed our day-to-day lives drastically. Now, it is not the digital world vs. real life anymore, as it has become part of our culture and lifestyle.

For example, I recently cooked pasta with my girl- friend on Skype.”

33

VII.Discussion

In examining the impact of social media on the Egyptian culture, three (3) different opinions emerged based on the contextual theory of technology. The first are the idealists who believe in cyber-utopia and embrace the idea that the Internet has revolutionized culture. They also expressed that the Internet has liberated people by giving them the tools to mobilize, express ideas, and create artworks in an open platform since it is not censored or controlled by the government. The second thought is adopted by the agnostics who believe that culture shifts happen in the street first before online and that the Internet is just another tool with limited significance compared to traditional media like television, radio, or print. A third extreme opinion comes from the pessimists who view the Internet as a destructive tool that has created a lot of illusion, cyber wars, and through it power structures spy on the masses to control their lives.

Understanding the meaning of culture, some people supports the traditional cultural values as conceptualized by Geert Hofstede (1980, 2001). Other studies have recently introduced the possible emergence of a new cultural system introduced by technology that transcends the traditional values of any society while being rooted in them simultaeously ( Waters and Lo,2012).These two (2) views raise the discussion of whether culture impacts social media or whether social media creates its own culture detached from reality.

The inquiry of how social media has impacted Egyptian culture is inseparable from understanding why people use social media in the light of “Uses and gratification theory”,to express opinions and while keeping an anonymous profile. Under an authoritarian regime, keeping anonimity can only be possible through social media such as “Anonymous Hackers”. This group hacks governmental websites in order to deliver a message of freedom. It is also worth asking, how these anonymous influencers still gain trust. For example, the admin page Facebook page,“We are Khaled Said” that many refer to it as the catalyst to the Egyptian uprising was not well- known, yet still was able to call for mobilization in the streets. Later, after the appearance of the admin on TV, he was criticized as being fake causing his credibility.

Other influencers have opted for not being anonymous only to abandon social media for mass media fame.This is the case of Bassem Youssef and Ahmed Amin, who started as video bloggers on moving on to Television abandoning their social media presence. This provokes the inquiry of why some still measure success by their appearance on traditional media, although Internet in Egypt has a high rate of penetration.Other initiatives such as Abla Fahita, a puppet that appears to break taboos in satire commentary, also jumped to television from social media. The puppeteer’s real identity remains unknown.

The findings revealed that Egyptians consume social media heavily and most of them view its effect on their culture as a positive and empowering one. Their perspective on how it changed the Egyptian culture, varied yet it could be summarized as opening up new opportunities. This included providing an alternative outlet for people’s thoughts and opinions or new venues for informal businesses through free advertising and lack of bureaucracy.

Additionally, it was viewed as an up-to-date and transparent source of information. On the other hand, many

blame social media as the main reason for the rise of intolerance in the Egyptian society and for giving a plat form of speech to uneducated voices. Issues like cyber bullying, lack of privacy, and the spread of fake news appear to be a concern for many Egyptians who are active online.

XII.Limitations This research faced several limitations, including lack of adequate research papers on the topic. In order to conduct a content analysis research on social media in Egypt, a team of researches should be available and ready to dedicate time and effort in coding the online data. Social media is a very fluctuating environment and whatever is online today could disappear the next day. Most researches have only focused on Facebook and Twitter in exploring social media in Egypt, while ignoring the role of other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, or Snapchat. Another limitation to that research was the time constraints placed on gathering data and conducting interviews. This has led to random and convenience sampling of both the qualitative and quantitative data non-representative sample of the Egyptian virtual sphere. All the survey respondents were educated which does not represent the Egyptian society with its forty (40) percent illiteracy. The composition of the focus group created another hinder as it examined social media within the perspective of Egyptians who live abroad only.

X.Recommendations For future research, more emphasis should be placed on conducting a content analysis of trending topics in the Egyptian blogosphere. The research should code the popular hashtags and the reason and timing for their usage.Another recommended study is a comparison between the content of power structures such as TV channels with online presence, digital advertising, or official governmental pages and the material produced organically from unknown Internet users.

This research revealed the need to understand many aspects such as why the Egyptians are still reluctant towards online dating or why many of them still do not trust e-commerce. Another important direction for future research would be to create an archive that documents online communication and user’s interaction in real time in order to detect themes for writing an alternative socio-political history of how people lived in certain periods of history. An overlook on viral memes locally and globally is a very crucial area of study that will reveal how the Millennials perceive themelves on a global scale and how sarcasm could be a universal language. The continuation of this research will not only benefit the new media studies in general, but will also provide companies with the best strategies to be used in the penetration of any technological invention in the MENA region with specific cultural constraints.

XI.Conclusion To conclude, this study is crucial in expanding the topic of new media studies in developing countries like Egypt in specific and the MENA region in general. The strength of this research is its attempt to attest hegemonic culture through the user generated content of social media. It adds a new insight by considering the online user as a contributor to the collective contemporary history of culture and sees him/her as an active player rather than a consumer. It proves that even developing countries like Egypt are capable of being part of a global content production and not limited to entertainment or mass media industries.

35

APPENDIX A-Survey Question

We are conducting a survey about the impact of social media on the Egyptian culture for acade- mic research purposes; your contribution will be very beneficial to us and is highly appreciated. We welcome the honest feedback of both active users and those who rarely participate in social media. All responses are kept confidential and for research purposes only. You may skip any question you do not feel comfortable answering.

Q-1.Do you have an account on social media?

A. Yes B. No, skip to demographic questions.

C. If no, please explain the reason_____________________________ D. If you answered No, please skip to question nine in the survey.

Q-2.Which platform do usually use, mark all possible answers?

A. Facebook B. Instagram C. Twitter D. Snapchat E. Blogs F. All the above G. Others, Please specify................

Q-3. How often do you use social media?

A. B. C. D. E.

Daily Weekly Occasionally Rarely I never used social media.

Q-4. Why do you use social media platforms? Mark all possible answers.

A. To communicate and know about others B. To express my opinions C. As a source of information D. To engage in collective events E. For entertainment purposes

F.Online Dating G. Chatting H.Other reasons, please specify________________ Q-5. Have you opened an account or page using a screen name or nickname that is not yours?

A. Yes B. No Q-6-Have you tried to open a Facebook page, YouTube Channel, group, blog, Instagram account for other reasons beside your personal profile.

A.Yes B. No If yes, please specify .........................................

Q7- Do you participate in online discussion, reviews , groups or pages, forums...etc?

A.Yes B.No If yes please specify .........................................

Q-8.What is your reaction to this statements?: A-“Social media had a great impact on the Egyptian culture” Strongly Agree 5

Agree

Neutral

4

Disagree

3

Strongly Disagree

2

1

B- “Social media is a reflection of the Egyptian culture and society” Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

5

4

3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

2

1

C- “Social media encouraged Egyptians to participate in collective” events on the streets ( ex: rally, strikes, marathon, street parties..etc) Strongly Agree 5

Agree

Neutral

4

3

Disagree 2

Strongly Disagree 1

D-“Social media gave Egyptians the freedom to speak their mind”

37 Strongly Agree

Agree

5

Neutral

4

Disagree

3

Strongly Disagree

2

1

F- “Social media made Egyptians more cultured, educated and globally aware.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

5

4

3

2

Strongly Disagree 1

Q-9. Explain your opinion on how social media affected Egyptian Culture: _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Q-10.In your opinion, what makes a post on social media highly engaging and viral in Egypt? Rank your answers so that 1 is the most common type of posts and 12 is the least

Anonymous Popular Factual Delusional Global Local Provoking Familiar Innovative Relatable Enlightening Shallow

Q-11.Do you think social media has changed Egyptian cultural values?

A.Yes B.No How?__________________________________________________

Q-12.Rank the issues that you think Egyptians share the most on social media.

Political Issues Human Rights Issue Personal opinions Memes Sarcastic videos TV and entertainment Arts and Culture Articles Religious Posts Social Problems Traveling Memoirs Fashion Q13.A. Please specify an Egyptian blog, page, Youtube channel, figure, meme, trend, group or even hashtag that you find interesting online: _________________________________________________ _____________ __________________________________________ _ Q13-B. Based on you answer in the previous question, please explain your reason _____________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Q14. Do you think his/her content had an impact on Egyptian pop culture?

A.Yes B. No C. Please explain your answer_________________________________ Q15. Do you think the type of content produced on your selected figure or page was only possible because of social media.

A. Yes B. No C.Why___________________________________________________ Q16-What is your gender?

A. Female B. Male

39 Q18. What is your age?

A. 17 or younger B. 18 to 24 C. 25 to 34 D. 35 to 40 E. 40 or older Q.19 What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed?

If currently enrolled, highest degree received. (Please circle your answer) A. No schooling completed B. Currently enrolled in a school C. High school graduate, diploma or the equivalent D. Trade/technical/vocational training E Bachelor’s degree F. Master’s degree G. Doctorate degree Q 20. Which of the following best describes your current relationship status?

A. Married B. Widowed C. Divorced D. Separated E. In a domestic partnership or civil union F. Single, but cohabiting with a significant other G. Single, never married

B- Focus Group Questionnaire

Read moderator ground rules and pass out consent form. Please go around the room and introduce yourself. Tell us your first name, your occupation, education and age.

Transition: Thinking about social media, let’s discuss how do you use it, how often and why? Also tell us your opinion on whether you think Egyptians use social media s in a way that is different from other cultures or not.

List of major questions and probes Social media usage and Acculturation Transition: Let’s discuss if the way Egyptians use social media identify their cultural values.

RQ-1- How the public uses social media and why?

1. When did you start using social media, which platform and why?

2. How many hours do you use social media?

3. Which social media platform do you use the most and why?

4. Is there a certain social media platform that you are restraining from using on purpose and why?

5. Do you think social media is more beneficial as a source of information, a communication tool, a mobilizing tool or to connect with others?

Transition: Let’s discuss if you consider yourself a mere observer and a viewer on social media or an active participant?

RQ 2-Identify the users’ behavior whether they are participant or mere viewers.

1. Have you started a blog or page or forum or any personal project on the web?

2. Why did you start it and how, describe your experience.

3. Do you think it is important to be active on social media and why?

4. How do you think social media was an important factor in the completion of your online project?

5. What are the types of content that you share on social media?

6. Have you been engaged in a globally viral trend or meme? ( Ex. ice Bucket challenge, memes, changing your profile picture for an International cause and why ?

Transition: Let’s discuss how social media effected Egyptian culture.

RQ-3- Observe the main popular productions that became viral or had a physical impact.

1. Do you think Egyptians produce a specific type of content that is different than what is globally viral?

41 A. how do you think it is different B. why do you think it is different 2- What is a blog, page, meme, influencer, figure, Vlogger, Viner, musicians that you follow?

A. Explain the reasons you like him/her and how is he producing something different B. Do you think he/ she had an impact on the Egyptian culture and how C. How do you think what he/she produces reflects the Egyptian society and why?

D. Do you think he/she would have never produced this content if social media didn’t exist?

Transition: Let’s discuss the type of content that became viral and engaging online.

RQ-4. Identify key topics that shaped the content of the Egyptian virtual sphere.

1-What are the topics that catches your attention on social media and why?

2- Do you think Egyptian virtual sphere is part of the society or is an isolated environment that doesn’t represent the majority?

3-What topics, hashtags, articles or issue that make Egyptians engaged?

4-What is an Egyptian viral post that you will never forget and why?

5- How do you think social media has opened issues that were taboos in the Egyptian society?

Transition: Let’s discuss if social media has changed Egyptian cultural values and how?

RQ-5-Explore whether these online players had a hegemonic effect on culture 1-Do you think Egyptians have become more collectivistic or individualistic after social media.

2-Do you think Egyptians have become less tolerant or open minded after social media.

3-Do you think family ties are stronger or weaker after social media.

4-Do you think Egyptians are more or less free after social media.

5-Do you think Egyptians are more or less social after social media.

[Conclusion-Thank you to participants for attending the focus group]

C-In-Depth Interviews

Ahmed Gharbia Gharbiah is a blogger under the name “Tay El Motasel” and one of the founders of ADEF foundation. He studied management and works on various issues related to the Internet such as subjects related to open source or free and collaborative knowledge that encourage people to share material without copyrights or commercial monopolies. He is also concerned about the technology that supports the Arabic language which helps people build their own pages, website and blogs in their mother tongue. His foundation“ADEF” founded as an NGO and their main activity is organizing camps that promote digital expression. Around seventy to eighty kids from the Arab world attend their workshops that teach the use of the Internet and filmmaking with a yearly curriculum.

Their camps have started since the eighties to be stopped in 1995 and returned back in 2007 with a new concept under the supervision of Ali Shaath. They were able to do several outreaches in African countries such as Mozambique and Tunisia.

“In our camps, we have witnessed many kids become writers, rappers, filmmakers, we know that what we do is highly effective but we have the challenge of doing it within the continuous changing circumstances” said Gharbieh explaining that their aim is to raise a generation that is able to challenge all autocratic powers. “My blog ‘Tay El Motasel’ was opened in 2003 and I wrote about general topics that are not necessary related to politics, as I was just trying to write in Arabic to experiment in that area,” said Gharbieh explaining that he wrote about various issues such as social problems and the environment. “When political activism started to become more intense in 2005, we used to share about campaigns against prisoners of conscience, support the strikes of reformist judges, promote movements such as KEFAYA and call for demonstrations,” continued Gharbieh.

Interviewer: So what is your personal history with the Internet?

Gharbieh: When I was a child there was no Internet, at least in the Arab world. It existed internationally from a while ago; however, it was introduced to Egypt in 1994. This was simultaneous with the appearance of the web, which made many people confused between the web and the Internet because of this coincidence. The web is not everything in the Internet, as there were other uses and different access links other than the normal HTML that we know today. There were other means that were used for chatting, publishing, producing or researching such as the Usenet, email lists, the “FTTP” that had database of photos and information. The web then appeared in 1994 and created a major shift, probably because it was easier, although actually we did not have the chance to try other versions. I believe that if we were introduced to the Usenet in the phase of Internet we would have been experts in it.

Then the forums appeared such as Yahoo Chat Forum that was an outlet for social communication as it was a platform that covered issues such as religion, social, politics, literature, poetry or just mere hallucination and jesting. Its members used to share posts, argue or implement power on each other and kick out participants that they do not like. This was the beginning of something similar to a social network.I actually don’t like to restrict

43 networking to Facebook and Twitter only, this is not true as the whole Internet is asocial network since it started.

Personally speaking, the first time I used the Internet in 1996 or 1997 and I was in college during that time.

The dial up appeared, I already owned a computer and an old modem that we used as a fax. Then I later bought a new modem with an account from one of the companies that distributed it during that time, IRC, chat, the primitive web, and the archive of Usenet that had an archive of debates and interactive forums since the eighties.

TheUsenet was not like the Internet, you cannot know the number of members as it was open to everyone and people used to write with nicknames. This was part of the Internet culture back then. I used to write with the name Alef, like the first Arabic alphabet, in my personal blog. However, I did not contribute a lot on the Usenet.

Interviewer: Do you think these forums were restricted to a certain class of people since the Internet was still expensive in Egypt?

Gharbieh: In-fact, the Internet did not really exist domestically for a while, as it was still restricted to the professors and people working in academia only. So whoever had one of his parents in the university was able to have an account, other than that most of the people did not know about the existence of the Internet.

However, when it entered the homes, it was affordable and the prices dropped quickly compared to other places. This actually was one of the positives of the conditions for the Internet penetration in Egypt and this helped in making many people engage with it quickly. In-fact Egypt and Morocco had similar circumstances for the Internet penetration in terms of quick accessibility with affordable prices. Although I used Yahoo Forums very early, I did not spend much time in it like that I spent on blogs later.

Unfortunately, most of what existed back then disappeared because hosting websites such as Angle Fire and Homestead were bought by companies such as Google and a lot of the early history of the Internet has gone.

There were sites that were made by amateurs that did HTML pages themselves that were very primitive with colored fonts, animated GIFs as if was a festival. You will laugh if you saw these pages today.

Since I studied management of information and worked in IT, I used to help in the creation of websites and the Internet helped me a lot in finding solutions related to my work or see the latest updates in my industry.

Between the 1997 and 1998, appeared what was called the “Dot Com Bubble” and there was a boom in the electronic commerce with the appearances of websites such as Amazon.com or E-bay. A great development happened in the technicality of the web and the dynamic sites started to become more sophisticated and interactive. Since 2003 when I opened my blog, I started to be a contributor in this social sphere and got connected to people through the Internet.

Also in 2001, I was part of email communities, like “Sahara Safaris” that was concerned about traveling and camping into the desert. We used to travel around Egyptian deserts like the white one or Nubia and then share notes and photos, however, most of the posts were in English that used to bother me. In 2001-2002, I joined the Yahoo Forum “Pen Temple Pilots” that was made by one of our friends, Mohamed El Razaz and was concerned with cultural issues. In 2003 when I opened my pages on blogspot, I did some experimentation in writing in Arabic, although the portal didn’t have an Arabic interface. Later the Blogspot started to become customized for Arabic speakers after Google bought it in 2005, but I had already moved to Wordpress in 2004. Later in 2005, the number increased and active bloggers started to know each other, we also contributed to political campaigns, especially with the hype of the movement KEFAYA.

Interviewer: In your opinion, did social media provoke political activism in Egypt?

Gharbieh: We cannot say that political activism didn’t exist in the streets, as there were demonstrations in 2002 and 2003, which created a new generation of political activists that did not exist in the arena before and only started being interested while at college. But the Internet has done a generic transformation as it created a new collective space and opened several discussions that were taboos. Also, topics about freedom and human rights were all opened for discussions in the forums previously. The only problem of these forums is it had centralized power and the admin would set specific rules, then people will fight for the removal of a post or other reasons so the whole forum would be deleted and a valuable content that would benefit others would be lost. That is besides being closed, elitist, and exclusive, which was opposite to the idea of blogs where anyone can write anything on a public wall with plenty commenting on it with no restrictions.

This is why in my opinion, blogs helped a lot in raising the bar of freedom in the political movement in Egypt.

Some of these blogs had a broad readership that sometimes was larger than newspapers such as Wael Abass’s page that had more audience than Gomhoria‘s newspaper and was an important source for first hand news that is not recopied but reported from a witness of the events.

The blogs were also a major reason for the improvement and development in the Egyptian journalism, as bloggers brought new skills that didn’t exist in the traditional media. In-fact, blogs created a new generation of journalists who made a quantum leap in the various newspapers such as El Sherouk and El Masry El Youm. Writers such as, Nora Younis, Ahmed Ragab, Omar El Hady, Noha Atef, Amr Ezzat and Ahmed Nagy, started as bloggers and became prominent Egyptian journalists.

This created an internal reform in the Egyptian press that was very weak. Bloggers were blunt, they did not fear anything and would declare that they saw a police officer who rapped girls and removed their clothes, while none of the Egyptian papers, whether independent, private or partisan would dare to write something like that. Bloggers raised the ceiling of journalism, to the extent that the press started using them as a credible source.

To sum up, both political activism and social media affected each other. Political activists had the courage to gather in the streets because they understood that there are many who are concerned with their issues. So the change happened in both directions, blogger became activists and activists turned to bloggers.

Interviewer: So how the Arabic language was introduced through the Internet and how it influenced the use of social media?

Gharbieh: In the eighties, a company called Almayia produced a computer entitled Sakher in Kuwait. They did some programs in Arabic to teach drawing, mathematics or dictation. They also worked with Microsoft, which was at that time still a small company, to help them in the creation of their programs and word modifier. Their ads existed in most Arab capitals including Egypt, so a lot of smart families felt they should invest in this issue and brought Sakher computer to their kids.

Also, older generations used to bring computers like Commodore and Omega Amstrad, and Sinclair, which were very basic home computers. In the early days of the existence of the Internet in Egypt, language was a barrier which hindered its reach to many. Everything could be only written in English and since there is a small minority who are bilingual, its reach was limited to the educated elite. On the other hand, Arabic was not an issue for social

45 media, so it was able to create local knowledge and had a powerful hegemonic impact.

Interviewer: Why do you think online shopping is still not really working in Egypt?

Gharbieh: Because of the technique of online payment, as credit cards and even ATM machines are not well spread. Recently, ATM cards started to be common when the government decided that the salaries of the employees will be not be given cash, but through the machine after a deal with the national bank. However, this was not enough to create a secure online system for any transaction.

Interviewer: Have you ever faced any censorship on social media?

Gharbieh: In the past, online censorship was not an issue, as the Egyptian government was made up of a group of technocrat who cared about the existence of free Internet in Egypt that is open with high speed and reasonable prices. Surprisingly, they didn’t face any resistance from the conservative security arm, probably because they didn’t expect that social media can be powerful. Also, many of them hoped that an economic flourish would occur by creating an environment for digital marketing in a Neo-liberal regime that promotes market economy.

Since nobody expected that the Internet would open debates leading to a revolution afterwards, it became a space free from governmental censorship for a while. However, censorship on the Internet occurred in other countries from the first day it was launched, such as Tunisia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Later, few court cases were raised against online activists In Egypt and some were arrested. The Arabic Network for Information and Human Rights had a major role in defending these cases and creating well-documented archive about them.Censorship also occurred from the public, like the case of the blogger Karim Amer, whose page that criticized Islam was reported by online users who don’t accept the freedom of speech. Personally, I never faced censorship, but other writers like Wael Abass who used to post about police brutality, was always stopped at the gateways on his way to attend a conference in another country.

Interviewer: In your opinion, why hackers still manipulate the virtual sphere?

Gharbieh: Historically, as long as there is a closed door, someone will appear to try to open it, out of curiosity or to display intelligence. Generally speaking, most hacking incidents happened for personal reasons such as someone is mad against another and decides to steal his email or someone who loves a girl that betrayed him so he impersonates her character to ruin her reputation. Some political parties were also hacked such as El Ghad political party or newspapers such as El Badil, El Dostour, and The Tahrir, as their opposition didn’t like the direction of the paper.

Interviewer: Do you think social media had an impact on public opinion and is the reason of spreading fake news?

Gharbieh: “ Social media did have an impact on public opinion and was the reason for spread- ing fake news.

This has always been the case, as long as there is a medium that is not centralized or controlled by a certain regime, anyone can write anything with no proof check. Social media helped in the spread of fake news, as the

number of people participating with various content have increased dramatically. It is said that one million users have entered Facebook within one month after the Egyptian revolution in 2011.

The government, on the other hand, did not care to use the Internet before the uprising and they did not enough, understand the core of these groups or how they work. Pages that belonged to the government were not effective enough, since the activity of an employee would never be like an amateur who writes his opinions. In fact, the professional commentator who does it as a job is worthless and most initiatives of creating professional journalistic blogs that belonged to news- papers were copy and paste from each other. These professional blogs were not able to sustain as they were not used of being criticized or their articles analyzed and checked for credibility. The blogger, on the other hand, is used to defend his point in several comments or change his stance which proves the disability of the mainstream press to use social media.”

Interviewer: Why do you think, traditional media is still dominating and powerful, even after the speed of social media?

Gharbieh: This is because it is still the main source of information for most of the people. However, in several incidents lately, it was proven that social media exposed the lack of transparency of traditional media.

Public media is now pressured to change their speech and proves that their interest is not against the public’s concern for transparency and accountability. Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, made us dump our thoughts directly, as we no longer take time to think about our piece on the blog, get excited about writing it, edit it for two days or collect sources and photos for it. So this accumulation of research and thoughts that used to happen on the blogs, don’t happen on Facebook or Twitter, which are just a way to vent emotions and ideas. At the same time, one can interact on the social networks every minute, as Facebook and Twitter are not mediums for dialogue, but for announcing news. That’s why Twitter has been really effective since the first day of the Egyptian revolution in 2011 and became its leading controlling tool for it. That’s why the demonstrations were scattered, since the walks were led by the news on Twitter, that’s why there was an internet break for a while to hinder this means.

Interviewer: Do you agree that social media provoked cultural and political change in Egypt?

Gharbieh: Social media might be the main catalyst, but still, there is no single entity that solely did the revolution. Social media was highly successful in mobilization, but before Facebook pages, there were some series of demonstrations in the streets. It is a series of incidents and actions that create the bigger picture of the story towards cultural change in the Egyptian society.

Interviewer: Do you think activities on social media can be archived and is that important?

Gharbieh: The Internet can be an effective platform to archive, yet the online data cannot be saved forever as the digital medium changes its form and structure every now and then. However, it can link material together by connecting various documents through classification and indexation. Indeed, it is very important to archive the material on social media as people change their views and develop new thoughts online. I personally have witnessed the mental transformation of many people, including myself and how they changed their views on issues like freedom of belief, the nature of power, the relation between genders, and various socio-political issues.

I wish to document all these interactions, but there are several hindrances like copyright and other technical or financial problems. People need to realize that deleting online material means erasing our collective memory in that historical era. Tracking posts on Facebook and YouTube, for example, will make us understand how people used to think during the transitional period of the Egyptian history.

47 Yousra El Guindy: Born in Egypt, El Guindy’s interest in social media dates back when she was in high school in the gulf and had mathematics specialization that can fit her for a Computer Science major. But, she decided to change her major and entered philosophy to understand more about the world. She later became interested in political science and pursued a Master’s in political development studies from Lund University that was followed by another one from the American University of Cairo with a thesis with the title“The Role of Social Media In The Transitional Period”.

Interviewer: How do you think technology and social fit together and impact one another?

El Guindy: My relationship with the Egyptian revolution was basically through Facebook and Twitter, since I was in Sweden and I couldn’t leave the country because of my student’s visa. So social media networks were my window to the world and helped me get in touch with the revolu- tion. I was astonished to find a huge difference between Sweden and Egypt in the usage of social media networks. For example, Swedish people usually use Facebook to share their daily lives, such as “I am ironing my skirt” or “I am going to the park”.

Their posts are more mundane and personal. While in Egypt, it is a venue for expressing a political position.

Egyptians are more actively engaged in political policies and are concerned about its impact on their lives. This was also the case even before the 25th of January uprising. This makes sense in countries that are going through political crisis, like Egypt that was ruled for a long time by one party and lacked any public sphere. To explain, because the Egyptians are worried about their situation, they are un- able to cater for their needs, which is not the case in active democracies such as Sweden.

Interviewer: But may be the Swedish society is not as diverse as the Egyptian?

El Guindy: On the contrary, they are very diverse and they accept refugees to the extent that if you have a Swedish boy/girlfriend, you can get the residency. This made their society have different ethnic backgrounds. For example, as a non-Swedish, I have the right in some of the local elections, which I never had on my own country.

Interviewer: In what way, the Egyptians did not have a public sphere?

El Guindy: Mubarak had a certain policy that allowed for a space of freedom, though a number of media channels who opened a range of topics to be discussed. Since, they were owned by businessmen, they catered for a consumer who wanted a hyped debate and hot arguments. How ever, there were certain limitations and redlines such as Mubarak’s health or provoking a political action. “Let them talk, speak and discuss” was the philosophy of the satellite channels that still had certain limitations that they cannot cross.

Interviewer: So what is your interpretation on how Mubarek’s government invested in IT or at least claimed to do so?

El Guindy: Although there was a strong investment in the infrastructure of IT like reducing the cost of computers, however, it was not targeting political dissident, but economic profit. On the other hand, the Internet became a better tool to maintain a certain level of anonymity that helped many to act while keeping a certain level of security.

Interviewer: How do you think writers on social media differ than journalists working in traditional papers?

El Guindy: The only difference is how bloggers are ready to risk themselves, while others would avoid triggering the regime and would prefer to remain silent. There is a difference between a normal writer and power bloggers such as Wael Abass, Allaa Abd El Fatah, Malek Moustafa, and Sand-Monkey who exposed several issues such as sexual harassment in the streets. Still, many preferred to remain anonymous, such as the blogger Zenobia.

Interviewer: Do you think social class played a huge part, as most online influencers come from an educated upper middle class?

El Guindy: No, it’s about certain skills and use of technology to create social and political awareness. Many of them refuse to join a party and very few take grants from NGOs or International organizations as per-diem to maintain their blog or their online initiative. The majority works independently with no finances, as they consider it against their ideology.

Interviewer: Why do you think Facebook and Twitter were the most popular platforms in Egypt and have more engagement than the rest?

El Guindy: I guess without this huge number of members on Facebook, it would not have gained its popularity as interactivity is the main feature that people are looking for. The forums, for example, were closed and one has to be a member to connect where everything is highly centralized under the control of the admin. As an example, Facebook is handier than HI5 or My-Space. Facebook did two important issues; first, it introduced interactivity and second, it had a variety of both content and tools of participation. It made anybody a potential producer and curator of events, posts, and articles that are user-generated.

Not only, it brought people together, it removed the distinction between an activist and a follower. Now, news becomes viral for different reasons than before. For example, a short post with visuals is more engaging than a factual article written explicitly on several pages. Also, if a post became viral, its creator automatically becomes popular. Such as the video blogger Asmaa Mahfouz that gained her fame from one video or Wael Ghonem who was the admin of the active Facebook page “We are All Khaled Said”.

Interviewer: In your opinion, social media has impacted the Egyptian culture or vice versa?

El Guindy: “ Social media introduced several new aspects to the Egyptian culture, one of which is positive mobilization. Surely, mobilization cannot exist online alone. Social media can provoke the first spark but without physical existence, change will not happen. Another important point to cultural shift is the cult that exists on the Internet, because people trust social media more than anything else since it is their friends who are posting on it. In my opinion, Egyptians have participated in the 25th of January uprising, not because of an event on the page “We are All Khaled Said”, but because their friends are part of it and posting about it. On the Internet, everybody becomes a potential campaigner, which creates a social pressure.

This is the negative theory of mobilization or what is called the “Cute Cat” theory of political activism. To explain, social media has what is called information of cascades. For example, when one of your friends likes a page or shows that he is going to an event that would encourage you to do the same and so on like a snowball

49 effect. Another good example of that is the page entitled “Uprising of Arab Women”, where many women imitated the admin by sharing a photo of themselves holding a sign saying that they are with the uprising of Arab women without understanding what it means or being political aware.

Although the impact of social media on culture is positive, yet its effect is very shallow. Many youth has gained their political understanding from reading newsfeed on Facebook and thus, it lacked depth. That’s why many activists and bloggers find that whatever happened on social me- dia was negative as participation lacked political insights and knowledge. This proves that the mentality of a blogger differs a lot from a Facebook activist. A blogger knows ahead what is happening more than anybody else and would expose cases that cannot be mentioned by mass media, but are not keen on creating mobilization. While Facebook pages push everyone to be engaged and take action without creating a real social or political awareness.”

Interviewer: Why do you think official and established organizations fail to create an impact on social media?

No one can deny that the presence of political parties on Facebook became much stronger after the Egyptian uprising on 25th of January, as many organizations realized how social media is powerful. Later, the governmental entities like the Supreme Council of Armed Forces created a page to equate the existence of the online social groups of youth. However, they did not understand that if they post a formal announcement, anybody could curse them and their page. In a short time, they started claiming that the admin of their page post things, which does not represent their views. That is why a centralized entity like SCAF failed on social media, because they were very vulnerable in front of transparent participation and interactivity.

Noha Atef Researcher and writer who used to blog from 2006 till 2010 about torture in Egypt on her page www.tortureegypt.net. She finished her Masters with specialization in social media from the University of Burnham and her PHD thesis was about citizen’s journalism and broadcasting.

Interviewer: When did you start using the Internet?

Atef: I started using it in the nineties to check the high school results with the number 777 and also to chat using the messenger. But my need for the Internet was peaked when I started working in a News agency, as the web was a crucial source of information. In 2006, I read a report about the torture of women in police stations that was published by El Nadeem Research Centre on the website of The Arab Network for Information & Human Rights.

When I sent it to my friends, they did not believe that such violence might be happening, so I opened a Blog to publish the reports and created awareness about torturing in Egypt. I used to talk with several victims, Human Rights activists, institutions, or physicians and later some of the tortured cases started to approach me to publish their stories.

Interviewer: Why do you think, people who were active online before the revolution weren’t necessarily the initiators during or post the revolution?

Atef: I was never an activist, as I consider myself just a participant. My interest was mainly showing human rights defects to stir people’s anger rather than leading a mass mobilization. The revolution happened when I was abroad as I travelled in September 2010 and did not return back until July 2011. So I could not urge people to do something that I am not part of and I had no suggestions on how to change the political situation.

Interviewer: Did you face any censorship online?

Atef: Nothing has been removed from my page because this was not part of the Egyptian polices during the rule of President Hosni Mubarek.

Interviewer: What is the difference between online activism during the rule of president Hosni Mubarak and the later post revolution regimes?

Atef: After the revolution, cyber activism became connected to the street and most of the move- ments that started offline, decided to open a page on social media. The problem is that the regime believed that the Internet sparked the revolution and reacted by appearing online such as the page by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which used it for their online public announcements. Note that Egypt was ranked among the worst ten countries where you can become a jour- nalist or blogger in 2007 till 2009. In 2008, more than 100 bloggers were kidnapped and this still happens up-till now but legally.

Interviewer: In your opinion who started the revolution first: The Internet or the streets?

Atef: I believe the Internet was just a tool, as it is just a mean for broadcasting and mobilization that helped activists on a certain level.

51 Interviewer: Why do you think Egypt was ranked as an enemy of the Internet, the government still publicized itself as E-government?

Atef: “Reporters without Boarders” were the organization that ranked Egypt as an Internet Enemy, because many prosecutions happened to bloggers such as a writer from Sinai called Mosad Abo Fager who was caught by the police and imprisoned. Another example is the reporter Philip Rizk, who was kidnapped and was sent to jail. Most of these people were poisoned because they were active both online and offline activists.

Interviewer: Do you think controlling public opinion has become easier or more difficult after social media?

Atef: Controlling public opinion is now harder as the differences between people became clear and everybody now thinks and analyzes things more.

Interviewer: In your opinion, what are the most important incidents on Facebook?

Atef: The Facebook page “We Are all Kaled Said” was the most important and highly effective. Probably because the blogger “Khaled Said” was an upper middle class young boy and many were moved by how the police killed him. I am also highly interested in the non-political gatherings that are concerned with community building, such as the page “ASAHBE”, as its participants share things about a cause in a sarcastic manner that has more impact than a serious campaign with a big slogan. Blogs such as “I Want To Get Married” and the “Radio For The Divorced Women”, deal with social issues in a very creative and innovative way.

Interviewer: Do you think social media can create an unsociable society?

Atef: Yes, but that is not only in Egypt. Two years ago, Andrew Moore had a theory that the bloggers are unsociable bunch of people who are sitting at home with their wires. I believe that the Internet did not change social habits, as even in the past some people did not have the social skills and used to stay at home to do knitting.

Now, unsociable people spend most of their time online and I expect the coming generation to be more isolated and antisocial.

Interviewer: Do you think social media can be archived or we will lose this online data?

Atef: A good example of that was the portal “Maktoub” that belonged to a Jordanian company and all the data on it was lost when it was sold to Yahoo.

Interviewer: What were the significant findings in your research on social media for your PHD degree?

Atef: The Internet created a new visual language as its new fonts appeared and the importance of colors was prevailed. Also, sarcasm started to have a significant presence through memes and artists who publish their comics online without the boundaries of the print media such as the artists Hani Shams, Amr Okasha, and Makhlouf.

Tameem Younes Art Director and host at Raseeni YouTube channel

Interviewer: When did you start using the Internet?

Younes: I started using the Internet before high school. Back then, one had to use the telephone line to enter on the Internet and of course, it was a noisy sound that was unforgettable. Back then, the AUC’s password was the most famous and whenever you try to use it, you would hear a sound of a busy modem.

Interviewer: So do you remember how you stared your activity on the World Wide Web? Younes: The first website I tried to enter was surely www.sexplanet.com. Later on, chatting programs appeared such as the MRC and we used to sit on it for hours and create gangs to hunt someone. When the ICQ was launched it became the only way to know new people and make friends online. “ASL” (Age, Sex, Location) was the first thing asked in any chat conversation and we used to search for any female in Egypt to pick up a new online relationship. Then I started using various programs such LimeWire, Shiraz, and Napster to download music and films. Especially, with the dial up numbers that used to start 09000, downloading a film would take a month or something, as it was very slow and unpractical. Then I entered the world of hacking, this was just about entering

53 another computer and writing the world TROSIONS with green on a black screen. Later, hacking became more developed and you could enter another computer and check their files. Then came the time when pampering your computer was a trend, so I used to enter a website called “Hello Neo� to download various backgrounds, wallpaper, and themes.

Interviewer: In your opinion, how are the new social media platforms different from pro- grams that were popular before the web 0.2 era?

Younes: HI5 was a great program, as it took flirting to a different level. You can say it was an evolution in the world of flirting. I knew a lot of people in it and I meet a girl that I was about to marry, whom we used to write direct messages to each other. After a while, knowledge and seek- ing information started to have its own glamour and I used Ask-Jeeves and Yahoo as venues to the world of knowledge. But when Google appeared, things became totally different and it took me some time to understand all its aspects. You can say that the Internet is divided into two phases, the first was before the DSL and this was limited to playing games online and later, WIFI took the online practices to a different level and even changed our day-to-day lives drastically. Now, it is not the digital world vs.real life anymore, as it has become part of our culture and lifestyle. For example, I recently cooked pasta with my girlfriend on Skype.

Interviewer: Do you face censorship on the Internet or do you practice self-censorship on yourself?

Younes: Yes, all the time, but I never do any restrictions to my online activities. I even browse anything and watch any crap even if it is different than what I think, but I do this to understand others. For example, I always receive comments on my videos and they are not always positive. Later, I started to provoke people more to discover various extreme reactions and I used to watch the war between different people and the highly charged arguments.

I was also threatened to be killed for one of my videos, because I was criticizing the regime.

Bibliography Manovich, Lev. “ The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life.” www.http://manovich.net. March. 2008 McLaughlin, Gerald T. “Inftah in Egypt: An Appraisal of Egypt’s Open-Door Policy for Foreign Investment”. Fordham L. Rev. 885 .1978.

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Cliff Lampe, Rick Wash, Alcides Velasquez, ElifOzkaya, “Motivations to Participate in Online Communities.” Research Gate, Jan 2010.

Kamel, Sherif. “Assessing the Impacts of Establishing an Internet cafe in the Context of a Developing Nation.”, The American University of Cairo, 2005.

Richard D. Waters and Kevin D. Lo. “Exploring the Impact of Culture in the Social Media Sphere: A Content Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations’ Use of Facebook.” Journal of Intercultural Communication Research Vol. 41, Iss. 3,2012.

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55 Gerbaudo, Paolo, “ Tweets and The Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism.”Pluto Press, 2012.

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Van De Donk, Wim, Loader, Brian D,Nixon,Paul and Rucht, Dieter, “ Cyberprtotest: New Media, Citizens and Social Movements.” Routledge, 2004.

Musa, Bala. Willis,Jim, “From Twitter To Tahrir Square.: Ethics In Social and New Media Communication.” Praeger.2014.

Albarran, Alan B. Goff,David. “ Understanding the Web: Social Political and Economic Dimensions of the Internet.”, Iowa State University Press, 2000.

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Student Biography

Mariam Elias has first completed her Bachelor degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a specialization in Integrated Marketing Communication at the American University of Cairo, her graduation project was a campaign against street bulling and it won the best “Use of Research” Award from JWT advertising agency. Later, she studied “Interior & Set Design” at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo and her graduation project was an art direction of set/graphics/cos- tumes to turn the award winning novel “Sunset Oasis” into a film.

She has also obtained a Master’s degree in “Cultural & Heritage Management” from the Univer- sity of Turin, Italy in collaboration with ITCILO and UNESCO and her thesis project was about turning the old hunted Baron palace into a site-specific museum.

She has directed a documentary film entitled “Drawing On A Nude Body” that tackles the issue of banning nude modeling in the faculties of art in Egypt. The documentary was reviewed in Frieze art magazine, toured several festivals and won best directing award at the Cairo’s National Film Festival. She has worked as an art critic in several newspapers and wrote a bilingual book about the young generation of Egyptian artists, entitled “Thawret El Loool”: Chats with Young Egyptian Artists.

Her design experience varied between graphic such as book covers or logos and furniture as she started her personal project entitled “Paradoxia Furniture”. She has also worked as a copywriter in a digital advertising agency and scriptwriter for a sarcastic TV show called “Midnight Government”.

57 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Master’s Student Final Defense Page Student: Mariam Elias

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