Response Presentation #1

            For the major project proposal this week, the topic was on the Arab Spring Protest. This was not the first time that I had discussions about this topic. Last semester in one of the Sociology classes we watched videos and touched on this topic one of the weeks. I was very interested then and still interested now on this first groups project proposal. The main part that caught my attention both times was the man who worked at the fruit stand and lit himself on fire to get the attention of the government. The fact tat someone went to the lengths to end their life to help speak out for many more people is amazing to me. Yes it is a sad story and I wish he could be here to see what he has done to these countries to get people to speak up and the change that has occurred. Because of his actions he caused the rallies and revolutions. The Tunisian people were not allowed to fight back against the government. Just one man who was a fruit seller stood up, took a stand and changed the world.

            One of the lines from the video that they showed and the said, “Word of mouth wasn’t enough.” That for sure is the truth considering the boom of social media that happened because of who was around recording. Just telling people about it in a situation like this was not enough that is correct. The videos of the riots and the revolution after he set himself on fire caused an outbreak. The videos went viral fast and the whole world was able to access the footage of what was going on in this part of the world. Facebook was one of the main sources. There were pages made on Facebook for people to follow and become fans of. This also caused problems because it was not supposed to be aloud nor were people allowed to be apart of it. If you were caught posting on Facebook footage or associating with it, the government went to lengths of torturing and detaining the ones affiliated.

            With the fast spread and technology giving the world the ability to see what was going on, this caused for more involvement. Instead of just word of mouth you do not get the imagery of what is going on. Yet with the videos that were uploaded and made their way around the world, this topic caught many peoples more attention because of the gruesome and craziness of the matter. Technology helps revolutions and for peoples voices to be spoken to succeed. Without technology a lot in this world would still be hidden to the rest of them to see. This presentation did a really good job incorporating what technology and social medias effect is on the world.