If there’s one thing many people who follow social media have witnessed over the past ten weeks of political unrest throughout the Middle East, it’s that YouTube is becoming a very powerful weapon when in the hands of the right people. Similar to Facebook (which is arguably receiving too much credit), YouTube has become the subtle giant slayer behind various uprisings/revolutions in that region, either by allowing users to post up to the moment coverage of what’s happening in the streets or by simply adding a necessary dose of humor at just the right moment.
The latest evidence is a new viral video put together by Israeli musician and journalist Noy Alooshe five days ago that has already amassed a staggering 1.25 million views online. It’s a spoof of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s ridiculous speech last week in which he threatened to hunt down protesters “inch by inch, house by house, home by home, alleyway by alleyway.” As Qaddafi finished speaking, Alooshe, 31, sat down at his computer, played with the image, mixed in the beat from the popular Pitbull song “Hey Baby,” added some dancing girls, and put it online. Within a matter of hours, the “Zenga Zenga” video became immensely popular with both Arabs and Israelis in need of a good laugh.
The popularity of “Zenga Zenga,” which earned a write-up in the New York Times this morning, immediately speaks to two things: that while Qaddafi and his security forces have guns and bullets on their side, the people have YouTube, and amazingly, YouTube is arguably more powerful. As more and more images hit the Web each day that poke fun at a pompous dictator such as Qaddafi, his popular support wanes.
The second thing that comes to mind is that humor is a good healer at time when people often have to laugh in order to keep from crying. The human rights abuses happening across Libya on a daily basis are insane, disgusting, and drawing condemnation from all over the world. People in the Arab world need something to put a smile on their faces right now, and even if it’s just for two minutes and two seconds, “Zenga Zenga” does the trick.
Great post! Zenga Zenga reminds me of two other “mashups” from the past.
The first is actually from World War Two where Allied propaganda teams re-edited Nazi propaganda footage into a humorous newsreel:
“Lambeth Walk” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHtEKSg-ycQ
and this early web re-edit classic from the run-up to the Iraq War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJqROHxjDA
Nice Dan, reminds me of the countless Hitler mashups- my favorite being this one where Hitler gets Netflix and hits his internet cap!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Mg6pq33Zc
Great post Jonathan! I agree that Facebook is getting way to much credit these days and that YouTube is an extremely effective communication tool. This post made me wonder if a mocking, humorous videos like this are more effective in a country like Libya than say here in the U.S? A similar video here in the states about President Obama would likely not garner anywhere near this many views without paid promotion.
I also wonder if those stats may be skewed and how many of those views are from within Libya / the Middle East. I’ve heard of several companies that run server farms that continually change network addresses and ping YouTube servers to artificially increase video views.
I really liked this comment, especially on a video with such controversial undertones: “I have friends who are Jews and friends who are Muslim. I have friends from many different religions and ethnic groups. But we all laugh at this video because it’s so ridiculous. Not one of us likes tyranny, or genocide. The Middle East is blowing up politically right now, and things are changing, and the world is watching. What’s important here is that if you can see this video, you have the freedom to at least laugh and communicate what you think. That’s a victory.” -robobrow
I agree with Corey that Facebook is getting too much credit. Specifically I think the hype about using Facebook to bring people together and incite action is, well, hype. I would like to see more stories about social media as witness, social media as breaking the barriers of state controlled media, social media as a tool for getting stories seen or, as in this case, political satire.
Political satire is an incredibly powerful medium and in areas where there is tight-fisted state control of media outlets, having a platform for criticism and satire to exist can be incredibly powerful and empowering.
Just an offhand thought, is ‘Facebook’ becoming the ‘Kleenex’ of social media?
Hey Corey M…
“Just an offhand thought, is ‘Facebook’ becoming the ‘Kleenex’ of social media?”
Wow, that’s an interesting way of saying it. Strong social media is the tissue but Facebook has become the “Kleenex” recently. That’s just strong branding tho. No differnet than we all browse the internet everyday but if we want to look something up, we “Google” it.
YouTube fits that same description. People say, ‘you should make a YouTube of that when really they mean, ‘you should make a video and put it online.’
That brings it back to the earlier question posed on this blog by Dan: Can social media fuel revolution in the US or UK?
If the reason is no, it’s because we’re too darn brand loyal to really rock the boat at large.
I love the saying that “humor is a good healer at time when people often have to laugh in order to keep from crying”. I think Zenga Zenga did a great job in healing the pain by making this video. It is thought that people are chasing fun online, especially on social media. But considering this unstable situation in Middle East, social media do make a great job in healing people there and give them necessary information.
As time goes by, social media shows its power in sharing and changing the world.
It’s really an interesting post, Jonathan! Political satire is one of my favorite “performances” in the world. This “youtube” reveals that people have their own power to express their feelings no matter how autocratic government they are facing to. In Taiwan, we have a famous TV show that actors imitate politicians to make fun of their ridiculous behaviors and it is always beloved by audiences because it represents the real feelings of them. People always hope their government could become better and better however sometimes we may be disappointed at the result. Fortunately, at this age we not only have traditional channels but also own the social media online so that everyone can speak out their own voice and connect with each other to augment the power. Government may not always hear from us, at least we know we are not alone.
Great posting! I love political satire and despite of the serious situation many of us can at least smile when we watch this video. I cannot get enough of the coverage of the Middle East Uprising and most of the articles that I read are really serious. Yesterday I saw a video of Gadhafi with the voice of Charlie Sheen coming from him. Funny! Charlie Sheen and Gadhafi, two man driven by their ego and their selfish needs and desires. Both had a group of blondies serving them. Luckily for us Charlie Sheen is not the leader of our nation – I am sure she thinks he is capable of it. We don’t have to listen to Sheen says and obey buy his rules. Gadhafi is the leader of his nation and rule people by force and cruelty. The video make us laugh because it ridicules a man that has the power of a god but is nothing but a lunatic that is desperate to keep his power by eliminating and shooting innocent people. Yes we can laugh but only for 2 minutes. The rest of the time we should get back to reality and try to fight against this crazy man.
I couldn’t agree more that Facebook’s role is overemphasized. Satire has, historically, been a game-changing tool in the hands of those with limited physical power. Both in its ability to share an accessible message to the masses, and for the catharsis it offers people who otherwise face daily mortal danger.
It feels good to tease the powerful.
Qaddafi appeared to be ahead of the curve in the past several years. He made concessions to appease the West, welcomed inspectors into Libya, and seemed to have seen the writing on the wall. Well, as we’ve learned that was not the case at all. At least not within his own borders. Social media has definitely played a part in the organization of defiant Libyans – some even took to dating websites to get the word out so as not to alert Qaddafi’s government of their plans. It has played a larger role in promoting awareness to the outside world due to the severe limitations placed on foreign reporters particularly in Tripoli. The use of humor here is interesting. This video in particular was effective because it did not rely on viewers understanding of the content – visuals told the story. I would much rather receive a link to a funny video/article/photo with a message than a straight piece.
I found the Zenga Zenga video humorous as well. It was fascinating to me, that at first the video was posted anonymously, and it spread throughout the Arab world quickly and became very popular. When people discovered that the person who posted the video was Jewish – and from Israel, there was a horrified pause: “How are we supposed to think about this now?”
I think that in the end, humor won. Humanity had a common enemy that could be mocked together.
Great links, Dan & Corey! I agree with Jonathan. Facebook played an important role in the recent uprising events in Egypt, but definitely was not the only one. I believe that all social media applications deserve some credit in the events currently happening in the Arab world. Every application has its own virtues. Video is a more effective way to communicate a message than stills or newspapers. YouTube is by far the most user friendly application. The developers at Google made the application easy for users to upload videos. I have used other video applications in the past, but YouTube is the one that has more advantages in regards to other competitors. I wonder about the authenticity of those video stats. As Corey mentioned, techies around the world are very smart and can easily perform the type of maneuvers that can artificially increase video view stats. For me, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube deserve some credit on the recent uprising events in the Arab world. However, the main thing that is changing people’s awareness around the world is knowledge. And for that, the internet is king. It may be the best way to democratize people around the world without wars.
My own video contribution
Gaddafi – Too Sexy for His Land
See Colonel Gaddafi tango, cha cha, declare war on his own people, and show off his fashionable wardrobe and sexy body.
http://tinyurl.com/4m75thx
Here’s another one — don’t know what it says, but I get the sense it’s not complimentary to Qaddafi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtY8J2NymAI&feature=player_embedded#at=84