The Impact of Web 2.0 on Public Engagement in the Israeli Home Front (From the 2006 Lebanon War to the 2014 Israel-Gaza Conflict)

Introduction

The world has changed completely: first, at the end of the 20^th Century, the internet (Web 1.0) entered into people's everyday life; second, at the beginning of the 21^st Century, Google and the social media revolution (Web 2.0) together with the invention of the smartphone, iPhone, Android, tablets and apps (application software) became life itself. Nowadays 85% of the people in the world have internet access and nearly 25% of the people in the world use social media (Ahmad, 2013). The Web 2.0 Era (Anderson, 2007) is one of users who fill the empty platforms with information and know-how by means of Google searches and by uploading statuses, posts, photographs, video clips, films and music, tweeting tweets as well as location updates on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google maps, Pinterest, YouTube, Waze, WhatsApp, etc.).

Emergency situations characterized by special needs relating primarily to the local community and absorbed centrally, damage the body, mind and material (Procopio & Procopio, 2007). In an emergency situation, some of the difficulties cannot be entirely solved through mass media. However, internet, e-mails, smartphones, social networks and apps constitute individually or jointly a suitable tool for particular assistance and support in these situations, thanks to the possibilities they offer like: sharing and engagement between the public, communities, entrepreneurs, developers and corporations.

During a crisis three players are engaged in emergency activities in social networks: 1. The companies managing the networks like Facebook and Twitter, who invest in upgrading and adapting themselves to the requirements in order to meet all the needs during emergencies; 2. The emergency authorities that are attempting to develop systems and methods of using the social media routinely and during emergencies; 3. The citizens who make regular and continuous use of networks and have exhibited their tremendous power and ability during emergencies.

Official authorities have given way to international digital corporations such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and digital entrepreneurs (applications inventors, for example) in coping/dealing with emergency situations. More often than not the authorities implement ad hoc cutting edge technology these companies have to offer (Beneito-Montagut, 2013).

Numerous governments claim that information supplied by citizens can be unreliable or incorrect. Moreover, government personnel point out that no action can be taken nor forces sent out in response to a posting in Facebook or a tweet in Twitter (Brasseur, 13 January 2014).

Public participation is done by the authorities through what is today known as crowdsourcing. Tomer Simon identifies two ways emergency authorities requested assistance from the public during the crisis: 1) a direct call for information 2) Requesting the public to retweet their messages or share information on Facebook (Simon et al., 2014).