Synaps sur Twitter : “THREAD Amid all the uncertainty and anxiety, here are things we’ve seen change for the better in Lebanon. The list, as the events themselves, is disorderly, open-ended, and subject to constant questioning. Feel free to jump in but please keep it civil!”
▻https://twitter.com/SynapsNetwork/status/1200301313826967552
-Lowered boundaries between disparate groups who discover problems and demands in common—and all the positive and negative exposure this entails
–A surge in critical thinking within a previously disabused youth, who ask questions, challenge narratives, and seek independent sources of information
–The unprecedented mobilization of teenagers, in a society that tended to either keep them completely out of politics or lock them into factional cocoons
–Accelerated, improvised forms of civic education occurring within families, schools and universities, and the protest movement itself
–A nascent factchecking reflex—which continues to evolve in spite of (and in response to) an explosion of wild rumors and conspiracy theories
–Alongside closed groups on WhatsApp and Instagram, a sudden eruption of Lebanese on Twitter, in a more open, fast-paced digital public space
–A rich use of Arabic in all forms of public communication, including among Lebanese who previously tended to default to English and French
–Reclaiming public space that was traditionally monopolized by political factions, real estate promoters, religious symbolism, and security forces
–Multiplying examples of civic-minded behavior, on the roads, in relation to garbage, and in the more ordinary interactions with the security services
–Different parts of the country appearing in a new light, often to nuance longstanding clichés about their social makeup and political leanings
–Pushback against the factions’ sectarian tactics even in places and within constituencies that were most susceptible to them
–Earnest (if exaggerated) claims to have defeated sectarianism—which won’t happen anytime soon, but still breaks a taboo on a scale unseen before
–A rediscovery of sorts regarding individual and collective rights—many of which had come to be seen as non-existent or unattainable
–Renewed interest in social organizations like syndicates and unions, which so far were held hostage to the political factions
–Lebanese expatriates engaging more seriously and consistently with the country’s problems, instead of wavering between hating Lebanon and romanticizing it