Egyptian's Revolution: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread!

                                                                                

The social media had a large impact on the Egyptian Revolution which occurred in February 2011. Without the Internet, the Egyptians could not arrange protests, demonstrations, or meetings in secret. The Egyptians would have been forced to meet face to face, gathering unwanted attention from the government. But the Internet helped bring the revolution into reality. The Egyptians were able to do all the work behind the safety of a computer screen. In fact, the Internet was such a large threat in the beginning of the protests that President Mubarak shut down all Internet connection in the country for a brief period of time. Reliable communications is an important factor towards a successful uprising.   

                   

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were all instrumental media outlets in the outcome of the Egyptian Revolution. The Revolution began on Facebook. A group of like minded individuals met on this social network, and the rest was history. One of the most influential groups during the Revolution was the Ahmed Said page. It is a Facebook page that had 500,000 likes and 50,000 reposts, and was named after a martyr. Said was one of the first casualties of the Egyptian Revolution. It was this page that sent vital information to Egyptians and the outside world. It also celebrated the end of the corrupt regime of Mubarak.

Youtube was also an influential part of the revolution. Many videos were posted during and after protests. Not only did these videos inform the public and the outside world, but they also restrained the police and military. The police and military could not harm people without the incident being videotaped. Videos were also a way of recording historical events. By piecing videos together, one could tell which riots were successful and which riots were not. This form of media helps preserve history for future generations.

As one can see, the social media helped play an important part to the revolution. Not only did it help protesters communicate with one another, but it also provides an accurate timeline of events and protests. Every riot, every protest, every fight, was taped and mentioned (on Twitter, for instance.). Many other countries took Egypt’s lesson to heart, which itself was inspired by the successful rebellion in Bahrain. One example is Armenia, where Armenians recently began rebelling, but it has not caught on to “Social protesting”. Its Facebook page has a mere 400 followers and Armenia is facing a harder time than Egypt overthrowing their corrupt regime. Egypt’s revolution highlights the importance of the social network. It is no longer used for just fun anymore; it can also bring down injustice and usher in hope for the oppressed.

Enjoy these Slideshows from Boston.com:
<http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/02/egypt_the_wait.html>.
<http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/02/a_harrowing_historic_week_in_e.html>.

Citations
<http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/02/egypts-revolutionary-fire/>.

<http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/02/21/egypt.internet.revolution/index.html>.
<http://parkerspitzer.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/28/social-media-spreads-egypts-revolution%E2%80%8E/>.
<http://premediation.blogspot.com/2011/02/egypt-revolution-and-agency-of.html>.