Question

During the rash of protests in Arab nations that occurred in the spring of 2012, what factor aided the rebels that was unavailable in previous decades?

1.rebellion by military personnel

2.support from other Arab countries

3.air support from NATO

4.public access to social media

Answer 1

The first three factors were always available in some way because they didn't have to be invented in the last ten or so years.

But the biggest change was probably (4) social media. Using tools such as Twitter, Facebook, or even texting each other using smartphones (or simply calling someone because cell phones are pretty much everywhere today), protestors were quickly able to get people together and look out for each other.

Ten years ago, they might have had to run someone over to physically deliver a warning or a message of some kind. Today, all you have to do is tweet or post an update online and thousands of people can see it in minutes.