The title of this post may look awkward, but at least, the comparison between "African" blog-sphere and the famous Egypt Tahrir place can be understandable in the sense that both are places where people "can" go and express themselves "freely". It goes without saying that making a comparison between the virtual and the real requires not justification but contextualization. As the world is witnessing the Arab spring, which according to the western media, is about freedom, there is also a great many who ask themselves: why not the African Spring? or Why not the Sub-Saharan Africa's Spring? These questions are not easy to answer because they trigger others more complex.
I have created this blog in order to carefully study the impact of digital media--twitter, facebook groups, YouTube --on the Arab Spring as well as its possibility/capacity for democratic change in West Africa.. Seemingly, the link is strongly established. Also, I will focus on the structural usage of digital media in Sub-Saharan Africa for democracy improvement, with a focus on Francophone West Africa: Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Stay tuned, I will be posting articles regularly.
