The Effect of Social Networks Sites (SNSs) on the Egyptian 25/30 Uprisings

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of social networking sites’ (SNSs) characteristics on Egyptians’ perception and attitude towards the 25/30 uprisings, also known as the “Arab Spring”. Data were obtained from 422 Egyptian university students using SNS by means of questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was conducted to test the research hypotheses. The study results indicate that SNSs’ characteristics positively influence the Egyptian protesters’ perceptions, particularly regarding unity. Such unity affected the protesters’ attitudes, which in turn resulted in the uprisings. To further generalize the research model, it is recommended to be examined in other Arab Spring contexts. Nevertheless, this empirical and quantitative testing of the relationships between SNSs characteristics, perception, attitude and uprising is a newly introduced model on which scarce empirical research exists. Therefore, this study diminishes the paucity of information on the role of SNS in shaping the Egyptian protesters perceptions and attitudes during the “Arab Spring”. The Effect of Social Networks Sites (SNSs) on the Egyptian 25/30 Uprisings