Revolutions of the Future: A Monolithic Tale of Tweet Feeds Past

There is little to no doubt that the last few decades have proved instrumental in navigating the course of a series of technological events, most of which gave indication of the not so ‘advanced industrial’ kind of society that ours is. Perhaps it could be all explained away with too much Ford-making of the past, or too little entrepreneurial attitude of the present for that matter, but one thing’s clear: the (conveyor) belt seems to have loosen up lately, particularly in the northernmost tip of Africa.

The ability to react adequately to continuing innovation coupled with the exploration of new possibilities on the global market tapped into the general characteristics of IT developers and brought about a marked shift in the status quo: ‘the state in which it was before war’ (status quo ante bellum as Latin people described it) needed to be updated to the state of Cyberwar. Case in point: Tunisia’s 'Twitter Revolution'. The almost deafening media hype interwoven with capitalist interests addressed as the interest of society blew this one well out of proportions.

That the social media advent works in sync with the market industry should come as no surprise. If anything, it is precisely the power which media conglomerates are adept at exerting over society that assists communications technology in strengthening the marriage between political and economic units. Yes, they really do bring voices to people, but what voices precisely? Throughout much of its history the intelligence of Tunisian populace has been restrained by a lack of current information supply which was controlled by those in reign. The Jasmine revolution, however, comes to justify a demand for transparency available to anybody with access to the world via the Internet.

The rest is the story of heavy tweeting, re-tweeting and pondering whether the days of propaganda are really becoming a thing of the past. Sure, Twitter contributed to the expedition of the overthrow of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but by promoting the revolutionary set of Tunisian youth’s views, the social media tool has also set out to gain its momentum as micro-blog services clearly outstrip the power of state administrators and governmental subordinates responsible for decision making. To this end, Marxist economic determinism has this wild conception that social production at its best sustains the conditions for its consecutive reproduction; that is, Twitter Inc. have managed to deliver cultural experiences and variations on national identity to Tunisian IT literate citizens that echo with the complications of some pretty intense geopolitical relations.

Many would say the use of the Internet for political activism is a layover on the way to Freedomville, but this recent event is also a true contributor to the break through against worldwide ignorance. Even though the purpose of such technology might elucidate Marx and Engels’ notion of control of the means of mental production, the Western capitalist market (to which Twitter belongs) is still effective in manipulating ‘the mass’. Welcome media analysts scheming and media audiences being influenced by the prominent of the day! Of course, the Internet nurtures democracy and expression without censorship.

But does this ultimately mean the current political economy of freedom of expression will mobilize the entire Tunisian public? Social media normally does so at dramatic times of conflict. Take a look at WikiLeaks ‘War Diary’. Now talk about sense of timing! There is a lot of chaos and violence still going on in Tunisia as we speak - masked militia men are looting property and police are beating innocent citizens. It appears that one cannot speak of ‘Twitter Revolution’ as a revolution that had brought down the government, since much of it are still in power and the ‘revolution’ is nowhere near finished.

It sounds like semiotics might be taking its online toll on the bleak portrayal of identity, nationhood and patriotism. This cannot do without governmental interference: such rigid interaction between political figures, citizens and the media relies on the excessive use of social media as a tool for manufacturing consent. Whatever happened to rationality then, one could ask? I think it came to be known as Search Engine Optimisation of social structures and struggles over material and cultural resources. Despite the fact that Twitter plays a role in publicising what should be seen as news, the global audience online is introduced to a sheer variety of modes of reality that suggest there is no single truth, since the truth about something is way longer than a 148-character tweet. Ask a Tunisian if you don't trust me.