Social media, riots, and revolutions
- Christian Fuchs, Uppsala University, Sweden Email: christian.fuchs{at}im.uu.se
Abstract
This article analyses the mass media’s claims about the role of social media in the 2011 UK riots and the Arab Spring, arguing that social media has become a new fetishism of technology that distracts from the contradictions of capitalism underlying contemporary societal changes and conflicts. Understanding contemporary capitalism, its contradictions and the role of the media requires a dialectical and critical analysis.
- © The Author(s) 2012