Social media and political revolution in the Middle East: Lessons for the seat- tight political leaders in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This article examines the role of social media in political revolutions in the Middle East with a view to caution seat- tight leaders in sub Saharan Africa and subverts such occurrence in the region. Data for this study was collected from secondary document on social media in the Middle East. The paper relied on content and discourse analyses. The paper argues that cyberactivism and satellite communication has transformed human lives and institutions reinventing the relationship between people and power. Hence, the new media, ranging from wikileaks and facebook to twitter and youtube has persistently challenged the traditional flow of information and exposed powerful, seat-tight and corrupt governments in the Middle East. This paper recommends that political leaders across sub Saharan Africa should favour overall economic reform, shun corruption, embrace the global best practices in conducting democratic elections, create jobs and reduce poverty especially among the youth to avoid similar uprising  in the region.

Keyword: Social Media; Political Revolution; Information; Middle East; State; and Leaders