What if?
Tunisia. Egypt. Libya. Yemen. Iraq. Oman. Bahrain. Algeria. Morocco. Jordan. What sounds like a list of agency locations across the region is really a country by country trail of the Arab uprisings of 2011. It all started in a small Tunisian town and fueled by the Arab youth’s power to communicate, build momentum and gather information and disseminate rhetoric via the internet and on the street until it became a tumbleweed of a game changer. Often, heads of states have fallen, and in others, change of governments or of those wielding power at ministry levels have been brought on by the people in the squares, on the streets. Continue reading →
The first “phygital” revolution
from an article written by Tom Roychoudhury in Communicate magazine
Necessity was the mother of intervention. When all else failed, they went bluetooth and memory stick. As communication doors closed day after day, the people in Egypt, tired of “no you can’t,” and did the “yes we can” through new doors. They combined intervention and invention. When all electronic channels were shut down, it went physical. Tahrir Square, #Jan25, #Egypt, was the first “phygital” revolution in history.
You’ll hear two sides to every story (and sometimes even three). One side will claim that it was a bread-and-no-butter revolution. The people in Tunisia and Egypt had tolerated enough of being have-nots and, unable to tolerate any more, stood up to injustice and poverty. Change doesn’t happen on a social network alone; change happens on the street. It’s physical; it’s blood, sweat, fire, rocks, bullets.
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Fighting With Social Media Until Now, Egyptians Prepare For More Physical Battle
It’s very early morning in Cairo on Wednesday and I’m being told on the phone that the protesters are bracing for the worst. Omar Sulieman, the Egyptian vice president, has warned that his government “can’t put up with continued protests,” reflecting the regime’s wrath at what’s now 16 days of pro-democracy protest that’s had global coverage. With his “no ending of the regime” stand getting even harder, and the protesters even more determined to “stay until they go,” most of my contacts are preparing for an all out. “We’ve tried hard on Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger,” said Ahmed. “Now we’re preparing for battle.” Continue reading →
Booted Off Web, Egyptians Find Twitter Work-Around on @Speak2Tweet
From my blog published on Advertising Age/Global News:
DUBAI (AdAge.com) — It’s happening in Tahrir Square, it’s happening in Alexandria and it’s unfolding on Speak2Tweet. The revolution in Egypt is not on TV or radio, but tugging at Mubarak 140 characters at a time. Continue reading →
From Tahrir Square: What Egyptians Are Tweeting Today
Well, they got @Sandmonkey this morning. The Egyptian micro-celebrity and blogger Mahmoud who goes under the handle Sandmonkey was put in a cage, arrested. Not much of a surprise, and a bit too late. He’d already got the word out, tweet by tweet, video upload after another, and he had done enough social damage to #Mubarak. He moved the dictator towards #epicFail. As the internet opened up a little, protesters were tweeting live from the now legendary #Tahrir Square. And the world is following. Most related topics are trending on top 10 as I post, in the U.K., in Canada, and in the US. One way or another, one hashtag or another, #Jan25 and #Egypt is captivating tweet. Continue reading →
