WTF ? WTF ?....Support for Isis stronger in Arabic social media in Europe than in Syria

[Rhinodawg]

Support for Islamic State (Isis) among Arabic-speaking social media users in Belgium, Britain, France and the US is greater than in the militant group’s heartlands of Syria and Iraq, a global analysis of over 2m Arabic-language online posts has found.

In what is understood to be the first rigorous mass analysis of those for and against the world’s largest jihadist organisation, Italian academics found that in a three-and-a-half month period starting in July, content posted by Arabic-speaking Europeans on Twitter and Facebook was more favourable to Isis than content posted in those countries on the frontline of the conflict.

In Syria, Isis appears to be dramatically losing the battle for hearts and minds with more than 92% of tweets, blogs and forum comments hostile to the militants who have rampaged through the east of the country and western Iraq, seizing large tracts of territory and declaring the establishment of a religious state.

The jihadist militants are known for operating a slick propaganda machine – managing online distribution in order to successfully evade content controls, piggybacking popular online conversations and galvanising thousands of global supporters into spreading their message.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/28/support-isis-stronger-arabic-social-media-europe-us-than-syria

[Rhinodawg]

1. Maybe ...maybe....I don't know what to think.

[CJCRANE]

2. That makes sense as most of the Syrian rebels are foreigners.

[Fred Sanders]

8. Shhhhhh...they are "Syrian rebels", that is the official line in the West. Look away from Saudi...

[99Forever]

3. Don't care.

At all.

Stopped being afraid of the boogieman decades ago.

[geek tragedy]

4. Syria is also a police state where the government

will torture and kill school children for opposing it.

[WhiteTara]

5. Long distance arm chair generals? nt

[dembotoz]

6. chickenhawks come in different varieties

always easier to talk big when you do not have to pick up a weapon and prove it.

[devils chaplain]

7. Because they don't have to live under them...

And the hypocrites choose to live under liberal democracies.

[Fred Sanders]

9. Yes. What is with all the "WTF's"?

[Denzil_DC]

15. That's my take, too.

It got to be at least part of the story. Some have returned from having joined IS disgusted at the reality and barbarity.

[Dr. Strange]

17. Bingo!

[LeftyMom]

10. How much time do people in a warzone spend dicking around on FB?

This is stupid but I guess stupid people will find it persuasive.

[msongs]

11. refer to all those people wearing che guevara shirts - a psycopathic killer made celebrity nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. Obama has certainly killed way more people than Che ever did, but do go on.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. The closer you get to ISIS, the less thrilling it looks?

It's probably easier to romanticize ISIS from afar and dream about doing cool stuff like fighting wars.

I think ISIS fills a gap for the alienated youth in Europe. The same guys who join ISIS now might have become communist revolutionaries in a different era, or ultra-nationalists. I suspect it is less the content of the message than the prospect for action, "meaningful, significant" action.

[Blue_Tires]

14. Why the WTF?

It's very easy to make a rosy picture and cover up what ISIS life is *really* like for gullible teens who live a thousand miles away...

Check out a couple of accounts from the "I ran off to join ISIS and it was nothing like they promised me" -stories...There is a very real reason why the late teens/early 20s is such a fertile recruiting ground on social media (especially if those young people are out of work, disillusioned, no future, no life, etc...)

[kelliekat44]

16. Probably because they have seen the western democracies close up? nt