When considering social media and its impact, one fundamental question must be considered, does social media enable sociopolitical change? People like Castells, in his article “The Egyptian Revolution”, would argue yes. Since he focuses on a real life example, the Egyptian Revolution, it is hard to disagree with him. He makes it clear, in regards to the origins of the movement, “that the original spaces of resistance were formed on the Internet” (Castells 57). I myself agreed with most of his points, and the general conclusion it led towards.
When I was assigned the position of opposition, specifically co-leading the rebuttal, towards the resolution “Be it resolved that social media enables sociopolitical change” I had to reconsider the whole article contrary to my original standpoint. This time my reading was sceptical of everything that was said. My scepticism questioned if the singular example of the Egyptian Revolution was enough evidence to back this resolution, as revolutions happened before the internet. Our approach to the article changed completely, it became a ‘playbook’ for all the arguments we knew our opponents would use. Taking everything in the article with a grain of salt, we compiled a list of smaller counterarguments, from a number of outside sources, that I could make in the rebuttal if they mentioned any of the article’s main arguments that we were expecting. We also made sure to note any contradictory statements Castells made that went against the resolution, such as his mention of the revolution continuing without the presence of the Internet (64).
Despite my approach of skepticism, my own opinion on the resolution hardly changed. It was clear that there is grounds to skepticism when regarding social media’s impact on larger movements such as the Egyptian Revolution, but this is just one example. However, in listening to the arguments made by the groups debating the Dean article, specifically the for side, it was clear that all social impacts have grounds for skepticism regarding the role social media plays in them. They specifically showed this with the forgotten intent of the Ice Bucket Challenge, and making reference to the Egyptian Revolution never having led to a total positive change. Through their debate, it was clear that the question should be to what degree does social media play a role in sociopolitics, and furthermore if the impact has a net positive or negative outcome.
While Dean focused on a variety of examples when considering social media’s impact, allowing for more open discussion, Castells focused narrowly on the Egyptian Revolution which directed arguments away from sociopolitical change in general and towards revolutions. However they both provide important insights, showing that both perspective should be considered before making up one’s own position.