Egyptians of all classes and ages took part in the protests, united in demands and ambitions such as improved wages, improved conditions of working, and political freedom. However, it was the surprising figures of young individuals who took part in the demonstrations that provided drive to the revolt. The young individuals were also key to maintaining the uprising given that numerous meet in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo as well as other cities across the nation. Egyptian youth are actually the faces behind this leaderless uprising; the revolution was generally impelled by their skill in utilizing social media to gain attention (Roudi-Fahimi, El Feki & Tsai, 2011). The new youth backed, and at times, instigated by women is now an aware global citizen, refusing to bear the inability of its rulers to be with the times and provide means of development and rapidly changing economic and social paradigms.
Apart from redefining the Egyptian society, the new media and public engagement have placed people at the centres of their own stories in the most profound ways and in ways that integrate the production, supply, as well as consumption of mass media. The Egyptians have therefore declined the long prevailing official mediated tales that have long kept them contained, while new tales of protests and response to the severe economic condition have become quite popular and fulfilling to numerous youth in differing parts and sectors of Egypt. In as much they appeal to the youth as an expression of their new-found liberal views. Even though Mubarak's deposition took a mere eighteen days, the oppositional movement which took him down was actually a product of a much longer procedure of planning and build-up, a product of decades of oppression and disenfranchisement which stimulated political mobilization.
The tales regarding women and uprisings have always intertwined, and the 2011 revolution gave the Egyptian women fresh avenues and opportunities for involvement in political and social reform. Right from the beginning women had been at the forefront of civil resistance that assumed real and virtual forms. The right for democracy and a secular society cropped up from the political and social oppression that women had encountered in years. The major role played by women in the uprising might have shaken the structure of the social power and deconstructed master tales regarding the Arab woman (Al-Natour, 2012).
Analysing any feature of the Egyptian uprising without taking into account this historical background would result to a myopic conclusion, and when evaluating the function of the new phenomenon like social media, could result to technological determinism (Saleh, 2013). This research aims to delve deeply into the role the young people played in Egypt leading to the 2011 revolution.
'Convergence Culture' and Youth Activism in Egypt
In most parts of the world, media and information literacy has presented a strong platform for young individuals to contribute to economic, political, and social development, offer expressions to religious and cultural pluralism, get to know about the issues in other surroundings that differ from their own, and support the democratic process. Egypt is no different and could not keep itself sans these particular grand goals. The new media environment has offered new openings of changing societies, through the civil society and social movements motivation which enlightens the process of decision-making with data, therefore empowering people to assume control of their futures (Saleh, 2013).
Half a decade ago, the Egyptian youth captured worldwide attention, and for a short period of time, became the focus of the world. However, the revolution caused nothing but a regime change, and they had every cause to feel belittled. Most elite Egyptian youth utilize their smart phones for checking Twitter and Facebook, checking email, and sending text messages. The actual profound cultural change encourages new activists on the block to link with friends for a much greater cause, in this particular case overthrowing the government. There have been around 3,000 employee-led protests in Egypt in the past decade, an outcome of the suppressed resentment of Mubarak's regime. Egypt is plagued with a youth-bulge society, not capable of providing jobs and benefits for its disproportionally huge young population. In Egypt, unemployment rates are greatest amidst university graduates. At the same time, the repressive regimes are not in touch with the needs of Egyptian citizens. Social, political, and economic issues run quite deep in Egypt. As a nation such a combination accentuates its susceptibility as a failing state, that led to the inadequate experience with democratic governance, weak academic systems, and broken social contract. Moreover, lack of natural resources, corruption, and incompetent bureaucracies crippled economic production,...
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