Question

Read the excerpt from "The Role of Social Media in the Arab Uprisings" by Heather Brown, Emily Guskin, and Amy Mitchell.

In July 2012 a report was published by the United States Institute of Peace. . . .

. . . The study suggests that the importance of social media was in communicating to the rest of the world what was happening on the ground during the uprisings. . . .

Data from the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project at least somewhat supports this conclusion with its findings that the majority of Egyptians are not online. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the total population do not use the internet. When looking specifically at those with a college education, use of social media for obtaining political information is more prevalent than in other segments of the population. Though most of the country is disconnected from the internet, 84% of those who are online say they visit social networking sites for news about Egypt’s political situation. These findings point to social media’s important role in spreading information, but do not necessarily indicate that social media was a mobilizing force in the uprisings.

Passing along information is an important part of the news process. Earlier [Project for Excellence in Journalism] research finds the role of Twitter in disseminating breaking news is not limited to the Arab uprisings—the death of Whitney Houston, for example, was announced on Twitter 55 minutes prior to the [Associated Press] confirming the story.

What types of evidence do the authors use in this excerpt? Select three options.

research related to the popular use of social media in Egypt
a statistic supporting the claim that social media use in Egypt is not widespread
testimony about how social media use has changed in Egypt
an example that compares how traditional media and social media handle a news story
data related to the decline of social media use after the Arab Spring

Answer 1

Explanation:

Among the various options given, the three statements that support the excerpt are;

1) Research related to the popular use of social media in Egypt ( Here the author said that 84% of people who use internet do read about Egypt news)

2) testimony about how social media use has changed in Egypt

3) an example that compares how traditional media and social media handle a news story (both statements can be justified by using the example of the death news of Whitney Houston on Twitter)