How Social Media Is Leveling the Playing Field Between Governments Militants and Ordinary People
Farah Baker
During the war  no one was more emblematic of the changing power dynamics than  Farah Baker   a 16-year old Palestinian girl who came to international attention for  her  social media updates about life in Gaza.  Baker  was not tied to any political group and  her  perspective on the war was a personal one. Yet  her  social media presence catapulted  her  to global attention and told the Palestinian story to the world in a way that resonated emotionally. It also empowered  Baker  as a political actor  something that  she  had never expected and that could never have occurred in any previous conflict.
During the war  no one was more emblematic of the changing power dynamics than  Farah Baker   a 16-year old Palestinian girl who came to international attention for  her  social media updates about life in Gaza.
Normally  a young teenage girl living under aerial bombardment would have been considered a bystander  at best  or a victim  at worst. But thanks to  her  Twitter feed  where  she  shared both  her  fears as well as  her  attempts to maintain normal life amid the war   Farah  became an important part of the Palestinian effort to sway global opinion on the conflict.
“At only sixteen   Farah  understood  even if only instinctively  the importance of social media in wartime  especially to a perpetual underdog like the Palestinians ” Patrikarikos wrote. “She understood the power that it gave to a single individual and to networks of individuals  power that previously would have been impossible.”
In her own small way  with her tweets and updates during the war   Farah Baker  had played a role in shifting the narrative and forcing the world to grapple with the Palestinian narrative of the conflict.
“I don’t have the ability to carry a weapon and I would never kill anyone  so my only weapon was to broadcast the truth and to let people know what was happening here ”  Baker  told Patrikarakos in an interview at  her  Gaza home. “I was more effective than I ever imagined  because of the amount of followers I got and because so many people told me I had changed their minds [about the war] and opened their eyes.”
During the war  no one was more emblematic of the changing power dynamics than  [TGT]her  social media updates about life in Gaza.  [TGT]was not tied to any political group and  [TGT]  perspective on the war was a personal one. Yet  [TGT]  social media presence catapulted  [TGT]  to global attention and told the Palestinian story to the world in a way that resonated emotionally. It also empowered  [TGT]as a political actor  something that  [TGT]  had never expected and that could never have occurred in any previous conflict.
During the war  no one was more emblematic of the changing power dynamics than  Farah Baker   a 16-year old Palestinian girl who came to international attention for  [TGT]  social media updates about life in Gaza.
Normally  a young teenage girl living under aerial bombardment would have been considered a bystander  at best  or a victim  at worst. But thanks to  her  Twitter feed  where  she  shared both  her  fears as well as  her  attempts to maintain normal life amid the war   Farah  became an important part of the Palestinian effort to sway global opinion on the conflict.
“At only sixteen   Farah  understood  even if only instinctively  the importance of social media in wartime  especially to a perpetual underdog like the Palestinians ” Patrikarikos wrote. “She understood the power that it gave to a single individual and to networks of individuals  power that previously would have been impossible.”
In her own small way  with her tweets and updates during [TGT]had played a role in shifting the narrative and forcing the world to grapple with the Palestinian narrative of the conflict.
“I don’t have the ability to carry a weapon and I would never kill anyone  so my only weapon was to broadcast the truth and to let people know what was happening here ”  [TGT]told Patrikarakos in an interview at  [TGT]  Gaza home. “I was more effective than I ever imagined  because of the amount of followers I got and because so many people told me I had changed their minds [about the war] and opened their eyes.”