Question

read the excerpt from \the role of social media in the arab uprisings\ by heather brown, emily guskin, and amy mitchell.
almost immediately after the arab uprisings began, there was debate over the role and influence of social media in the ouster of tunisian president zine el abidine ben ali and the imminent overthrow of egyptian president hosni mubarak. in covering what some deemed the facebook or twitter revolutions, the media focused heavily on young protesters mobilizing in the streets in political opposition, smartphones in hand. and since then, the violent and sectarian unrest in syria has brought increased attention to the role of citizen journalism.
social media indeed played a part in the arab uprisings. networks formed online were crucial in organizing a core group of activists, specifically in egypt. civil society
what is the claim in this excerpt?
○ during the arab uprisings, media outlets focused on young protesters, who were unimportant in the struggle.
○ media descriptions of the arab uprisings related to facebook or twitter diminished interest in citizen journalism.
○ social media affected the arab uprisings, but its impact was not felt as strongly in egypt as in other countries.
○ social media affected the arab uprisings, but its impact was not what the news media originally thought it was.

Explanation:

1. Analyze Option 1: The excerpt says media focused on young protesters, but there's no claim they were unimportant. Eliminate.
2. Analyze Option 2: The excerpt states Syrian unrest brought attention to citizen journalism, not that media descriptions diminished interest. Eliminate.
3. Analyze Option 3: The excerpt mentions social media's role in Egypt (networks organizing activists), with no comparison to other countries. Eliminate.
4. Analyze Option 4: The excerpt shows social media played a part (organizing activists), and media initially focused on young protesters with smartphones, but later citizen journalism (from Syrian unrest) got attention, implying the impact was different from what media originally thought. This matches.

Answer:

D. Social media affected the Arab uprisings, but its impact was not what the news media originally thought it was.