The document discusses how new media like social media and regional satellite television helped activists in Egypt overcome the collective action dilemma during the 2011 revolution. It presents a chronology of the revolution and examines how people who got information from different media sources like state TV, Al-Jazeera, and social media varied in their likelihood to participate in protests. The researcher aims to analyze social media data, conduct interviews, and perform content analysis of television to understand how media environments influence collective action.

1. Media Environments and the
Dilemma of Collective Action in
the Egyptian Revolution
Alexander Hanna
Department of Sociology, UW-Madison

2. About me
4th year PhD student
in sociology
Background in
computer science and
math
Son of Egyptian
immigrants

3. My research agenda
● How people use various media to overcome
collective action problems in authoritarian
environments
○ e.g: Egypt, China
● Political elites and their followers in social
media
○ Large-scale Twitter collections surrounding 2010,
2012 elections

4. Today's talk
Media environments and the dilemma of
collective action in the Egyptian revolution

5. Chronology of the Egyptian
revolution (1/3)
● June 6, 2010:
Death of Khaled
Said
● Dec. 17, 2010: Self-
immolation of
Mohamed Bouazizi,
Tunisia protests Image Source: http://www.guardian.co.
uk/world/2011/jun/17/arab-spring-end-anyone-
begin guess

6. Chronology of Egyptian
revolution (2/3)
● Jan 14, 2011: Pres.
of Tunisia, Ben Ali,
steps down
● Jan 25: First major
protests in Egypt
● Jan 27: Net turned
off
● Jan 28: "Friday of
Rage"

7. Chronology of Egyptian
revolution (3/3)
● Feb 2, 2011: Net
turned back on,
Battle of the Camel
● Feb 11, 2011:
Mubarak resigns,
army assumes
power

8. Dilemma of collective
action
People won't participate in collective action (like
a protest) unless they have guarantees that
others will.
Otherwise, they will have no incentive to
participate, will "free ride" on the contributions
of others (Mancur Olson)

9. Examples of the dilemma
of collective action
● Contributing to Wikipedia (a public good)
○ Why contribute to Wikipedia when others are going
to do it?
● Prisoner's dilemma
● How to resolve?
○ Communication!

10. Egypt's political
environment
● Over 60 years of
dictatorial rule, and
under colonial rule
for much longer.
● Laws prohibiting
protesting.
● How can people
communicate for Image source: http://english.alarabiya.
net/articles/2011/04/28/146997.html
protests?

11. Bringing in the media
environment
● Different types of media that compete for
audience attention.
● In the US
○ TV: CNN, Fox, MSNBC
○ Newspapers: NY Times, Washington Post,
Wisconsin State Journal
○ Radio: NPR
○ Internet: Facebook, Twitter, blogs

12. Egyptian Media
Environment -- in transition
● Old media environment
○ State-controlled TV and newspapers control what
people see, hear, and think
○ Nothing critical of the regime, all broadcasting to
audience
● New media environment
○ Introduction of private TV, both regional and
domestic
○ Private newspapers
○ Social media
○ Many different voices, audience can respond

13. Old Egyptian Media
Environment

14. New Egyptian Media
Environment

15. Research question
Can new media, like regional satellite television
and social media, help activists overcome
dilemma of collective action?

16. Example 1: Sherif
Sherif hears about
protests only on state
TV.
State TV says the
protests will be small,
filled with thugs and
criminals.

17. Example 2: Nana
Nana hears about
protests in Cairo and
Tunisia from al-
Jazeera (AJ) and also
hears state TV's story.
AJ is supportive of the
protests.

18. Example 3: Alaa
Alaa watches AJ and
state TV, and also
communicates with his
friends on Twitter and
Facebook, seeing
what they are going to
do.
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Alaa_Abd_El-Fattah

19. Who is most likely to
protest?

20. Methods of research
1. Network and textual analysis
2. Interviews
3. Content analysis of TV
Why these methods?

21. Full survey results at www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2011 June 5 Survey of
Egyptian Public Opinion, April 14-27, 2011_0.pdf

22. Data for network and
textual analysis
Dataset of over 12 million tweets collected on
#jan25 and other Egypt keywords from Jan 25
to March 1
Need to identify who people are speaking to
and what they are saying without having to
read every single tweet

23. Network analysis
● Understanding who
speaks to who
● Who is the most
central?
● Are there particular
groups of people
who speak to each
other constantly?

24. Textual analysis
Who talks
about going
to protest?

25. Interviews
Talking to people who used social media,
watched different types of TV, and participated
in the revolution on January 25 and 28.
Looking at a variety of different cities - Cairo,
Alexandria, Suez, Mahalla
Planning to do this next year

26. Content analysis of TV
Analyzing state TV and regional satellite TV for
protesting framing and cues.
vs.

27. Conclusion
Need to better understand how people respond
to media and how it affects how they participate
in collective action.

28. Thanks!
Questions?
alex.hanna@gmail.com
http://alex-hanna.com
@alexhanna