Out of Syria: Mobile Media in Use at the Time of Civil War

ABSTRACT

Social media usage during the recent uprisings in Arab countries has gained increasing attention in human–computer interaction research. This study adds to these insights by providing some findings on the use of information and communications technology (ICT), specifically mobile media, by opposition forces and political activists during the Syrian civil war. The presented study is based on 17 interviews with Syrian FSA fighters, activists, and refugees. A first analysis showed evidence for some very specific use patterns during wartime (compared to media usage of political activists under less anomic conditions). The study also describes a fragmented telecom infrastructure in Syria: government-controlled regions offer fairly intact infrastructures while rebel-controlled regions have been cut off from telephone and Internet. Moreover, the central and very critical role of mobile video for documenting, mobilization, and propaganda is discussed.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Markus Rohde

Markus Rohde ([email protected]) studied psychology and sociology at the University of Bonn and is one of the founders of the International Institute for Socio-Informatics (IISI). He is working as research manager for community informatics at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen. His main research interests are community computing, CSCW, human–computer interaction, nongovernmental organizations, and (new) social movements.

Konstantin Aal

Konstantin Aal ([email protected]) is a PhD student at the chair for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen. His main research focus is fall prevention with older adults and the usage of Social Media. He is also part of come_IN, a research project that founded several computer clubs for children and their relatives.

Kaoru Misaki

Kaoru Misaki ([email protected]) is a researcher at the International Institute for Socio Informatics. Over the past four years, she participated in investigating into the social media use by political activists—mainly in Tunisia and Palestine. She focuses methodological on “on the ground” studies—observing and interviewing activists in their contexts.

Dave Randall

Dave Randall ([email protected]) is a sociologist with an interest in the application of ethnomethodological “studies of work” program to problems of new technology and organizational change, and in the conduct of ethnographic enquiry in relation to these issues; he is a senior professor at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen.

Anne Weibert

Anne Weibert ([email protected]) is a PhD student and a research assistant at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media with an interest in computer-based collaborative project work and inherent processes of technology appropriation, intercultural learning, and community-building.

Volker Wulf

Volker Wulf ([email protected]) is a computer scientist with an interest in the area of IT system design in real-world contexts, and a special focus on flexible software architecture that can be adapted by end-users, as well as methods of user-oriented software development and introduction processes; he is head of the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen.