| The Internet and social media have become a pervasive part of our global environment over the last few decades, utilized primarily for commerce, communication, and entertainment. The last several years, however, have seen an increase in the application of social media in political discourse and activities, primarily in developed democracies and autocracies. Does that mean social media can influence democratic transition and consolidation in the 21st century? Are the examples of the Green Movement in 2009 and the Arab Spring in 2011 a validation of social media in service to democracy, or is social media also a tool for surveillance and disruption by autocratic states? This paper examines, through case selections of four countries, the use of social media during protests in Iran and Egypt, and the use of social media as possible instruments of democratic consolidation in Nepal and South Africa. |
