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Bloggers at Crossroads: an Exploration of Bloggers’ Adaptation to Post-Revolution Tunisia

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Bloggers at Crossroads: an Exploration of Bloggers’ Adaptation to Post-Revolution Tunisia Bloggers at Crossroads: An Exploration of Bloggers’ Adaptation to Post-Revolution Tunisia By Nicolas Laflamme A Thesis Presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Laflamme Nicolas, May 2018 ABSTRACT BLOGGERS AT CROSSROADS: AN EXPLORATION OF BLOGGERS’ ADAPTATION TO POST-REVOLUTION TUNISIA Nicolas Laflamme Advisor: University of Guelph, 2018 Dr. Janine Clark This thesis examines the extent to which bloggers’ have adapted their practices and behaviors after the Revolution in Tunisia. This inductive qualitative research merged two bodies of literature (digital politics’ literature and Sociologie des usages’ literature) in order to build an innovative theoretical framework and three exploratory categories of analysis: i) change of bloggers’ profile, ii) change of the platform and the use of ICTs, and iii) change of the targeted audience. Indeed, this paper argues that bloggers adapted to the new political and media environment by questioning their individual motivation to express online and their writing style, by maximizing their use of digital new platforms following their potentials for content production and diffusion, and by partially adjusting their practices to their audience’s needs and expectations. Acknowledgments This paper has been the result of endless hours of passionate, yet, hard work. Along the road, I have met amazing people without whom all this would not have been possible. First of all, I thank my advisor Dr. Janine Clark for her infinite wisdom, inspiration, and thoughtful advice that contributed to guide my reflexion through all the steps leading to this final version. Second, I thank Dr. Tamara Small for her comments and tips, especially in the early and decisive moments of this project: they contributed to frame the adequate literature and to open my eyes on innovative perspectives. I also want to thank Bader, Haïfa, Antonin, Marie, Alexis, Ezra, Sergio and Ana for your moral support and your patience. This research would not have been the same with you. At last, but not the least, I thank all the bloggers, journalists, and experts that I met during my fieldwork in Tunisia. Your kindness, your courage, and your resilience are limitless. You hold the future in your hand. Make it happen. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. vi Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Synthesis of the Argument and Chapters’ Breakdown .............................................................. 5 Section 1: Literature Review and Research Design .................................................................... 9 1. Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Digital Technologies as ‘Liberation Technologies’ .............................................................. 9 1.2 Digital Technologies as a Normalizing Force ...................................................................... 13 1.3 Sociologie des usages’ Literature ......................................................................................... 17 1.4 Justification of the Literature and Conclusion ...................................................................... 21 2. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 24 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 27 3.1 Case Selection and Justification ............................................................................................. 27 3.2 Recruitment and Sampling Considerations ............................................................................ 30 3.3 Research Methods .................................................................................................................. 33 3.3.1 Data Collection Technique ........................................................................................... 34 3.3.2 Coding and Data Analysis ............................................................................................ 36 Section 2: Data and Analysis ......................................................................................................... 39 Chapter I – Adaptation to a New Era: Change in Profiles ........................................................ 39 1.1 Style and Content : What Bloggers Words Reveal About Their Behaviours ........................ 40 1.2 What “Blogger” Means and What It Tells Us About Bloggers’ Disputes ............................. 44 1.3 Motivations in the Blogosphere: A Complex Web ................................................................ 49 1.4 Chapter’s Findings and Conclusion ....................................................................................... 55 iv Chapter II – Adaptation to a New Era: Platform Choice and Bloggers’ Use of ICTs ............ 57 2.1 The Four Paths of Adaptation: A Walk Through ................................................................... 57 2.1.1 Continuing to Blog: How the Captain Stay the Course Through Waves and Tides ..... 58 2.1.2 Moving Towards Alternative Media: The Logical Getaway ......................................... 65 2.1.3 Moving Towards Traditional Media: The Revival ........................................................ 70 2.1.4 Stopping to Blog: From Disenchantment to Hope ........................................................ 73 2.2 Chapter’s Findings and Conclusion ....................................................................................... 76 Chapter III – Adaptation to a New Era: Audience and Society ................................................ 79 3.1 Talking to the Wall: The Paradox of Bloggers/Audience Relationship ................................ 79 3.2 The Tunisian Society: A Complicated Audience ................................................................... 82 3.3 Being Packed like Sardines: The Saturation of Tunisia’s Public Sphere .............................. 85 3.4 Chapters’ Findings and Conclusion ....................................................................................... 88 Concluding Chapter – Overall Results and Contributions ........................................................ 90 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix Section ........................................................................................................................... 106 Appendix 1: Coding Nodes – First & Second Cycles of Coding ................................................ 106 Appendix 2: Interview Guides ..................................................................................................... 108 Appendix 3: List of the participants ............................................................................................. 112 v List of Figures Figure 1: Information production cycle during the Arab Spring ..................................................... 14 Figure 2: Synthesis of the Literature Review .................................................................................. 23 Figure 3: Synthesis of The Four Paths of Adaptation and Their Level of Appropriation ............... 77 vi Introduction The uprisings that shook up the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) between 2010 and 2012 attracted the interest of the academic community because of the important role social media was deemed to play in the insurrection (Douai, Auter, & Domangue, 2013; Howard & Hussain, 2013; Lecomte, 2013a). Scholars highly debate the role of digital technologies, especially regarding their contribution to the public sphere. Yet, there is surprisingly no literature examining the adaptation that online activists such as bloggers have had to face during the period of democratic transition despite their historical presence and active participation in the recent years to political upheavals. Indeed, the blogosphere was once central to activism by constantly challenging the regime censorship, especially since 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis (Chouikha, 2015; Lecomte, 2011). Now, their place within the public sphere remains unclear considering the emergence of new ways for expression. Consequently, this research (MA by thesis) aims to fill this gap by using the case study of Tunisia to examine to what extent have cyber- activists, especially bloggers, adapted their practices and behaviors during the ongoing democratic transition context in Tunisia? This paper argues that cyberactivists adapted to the new political and media environment 1) by questioning their individual motivation to express online and their writing
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