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Twitter as Virtual Battleground: The Case of HSM Press in Somalia
Abstract
Somalia has been plagued by political instability and ongoing conflict for over two decades. Yet, that does not mean Somalia has been completely isolated from modern technologies and new media. The construction of cell phone towers and other means of communication is a popular and profitable business in Somalia. One of the more recent additions to Somali new media is the use of microblogging. On December 7, 2011, Somalia’s al-Shabaab began a Twitter feed in both English and Arabic. In its first two months of tweeting, al-Shabaab promoted its successes on the ground, condemned what they see as unjustified acts of violence perpetrated against them, and engaged in a Twitter war with the Kenyan Defense Forces. This chapter seeks to analyze these first few months of al-Shabaab’s Twitter activity. What are the main goals of al-Shabaab’s use of Twitter? How effective have they been? How does their use of microblogging compare to other extremists’ (such as the Taliban) use of Twitter? As Somalia is largely considered a failed state and internet penetration is not particularly dense, who is the intended audience?
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