Facebook users take aim at crime, security checkpoints, life in Syria
Syrians are using social media to share their experiences, including at regime-controlled checkpoints, in this case with the goal of reaching decision-makers and improving the treatment of those stopped at them.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrians are taking to Facebook in droves to express their views in light of the complete absence of free media outlets in Syria. Some pages created in mid-August already have thousands of participants. Some pages are social, such as Generations of the 1980s and 1990s, created Aug. 19 as a reminder of Syria during those times and how Syrians went about their lives without certain technologies. The number of participants had reached 70,000 by Sept. 1. Two pages call on Facebook users to express their opinions by stating what they would do if they were president or when the war is over. Some ask people to share their reasons for participating in the revolution. Other pages are satirical, such as the one for sharing experiences at government-controlled security checkpoints. Marra al-Hajiz ... (Once, at the checkpoint ...), created Aug. 25, already has some 13,000 participants.
“All citizens have been crossing internal security checkpoints for the past five years. Let us hear their experiences,” said Tahsin al-Homsi, who launched Marra al-Hajiz, giving Syrian Facebook users an opportunity to express their frustrations with the practices they face when stopped. “Our goal was initially to share our own experiences in a cynical way to put a smile on people’s faces, but in only a few days, an unexpected number of participants joined.”
