While no leader has emerged in the pro-regime online community, social media influencers are on the rise.
BEIRUT - On several occasions over the past seven years, soft-power techniques have been used to rally support for popular causes in Damascus, seen as more cost-effective than sheer military might.
Initially immune to public criticism, Syrian authorities have been surprisingly attentive to what is being said about them on Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Twitter, especially when it comes to the whims and complaints of their constituency. They never really cared what the opposition was saying, looping all its branches and figures into a one-size-fits-all jihadi basket.
The Assad government is using soft power to peddle its version of events, so successfully it seems that its official channels on YouTube were shut down in September. Contrary to what many believed, most outreaches were never aimed at convincing the opposition but at uniting the converted behind a single cause.
More recently, however, Damascus has been reaching out to the millions of refugees abroad — especially the politically neutral among them — trying to lure them home, at the urging of the Russians. The objective was to attract international aid off the backs of the refugees, repeating the experience of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
Syrian authorities have provided returning refugees with construction materials, electricity and running water, nudging them into physically rebuilding their homes, hoping this will inspire international donors to pitch in.