Wael Ghonim, Freed Activist, Energizes Egyptian Protests. Share + Egypt's military rulers called for an end to strikes and protests Monday as thousands of state employees, from ambulance drivers to police and transport workers, demonstrated to demand better pay in a growing wave of labor unrest unleashed by the democracy uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak's regime. The statement by the ruling military council that took power from Mubarak appeared to be a final warning to protest organizers in labor and professional unions before the army intervenes and imposes an outright ban on gatherings, strikes and sit-ins. Soldiers cleared out almost all the remaining demonstrators from Cairo's Tahrir Square, the giant traffic circle that was turned into a protest camp headquarters for the 18-day revolt.
During more than two weeks of round-the-clock demonstrations at the square, protesters set up tents, brought in blankets, operated medical clinics and festooned the entire plaza with giant banners demanding removal of the regime. Read more here. The Ultimate List: 24 of the World’s Largest Social Networks. Nowadays, when we talk about social media, we usually mean Twitter and Facebook . Sometimes, we include YouTube, LinkedIn and Foursquare in that category. But we rarely consider the existence of global social networks . The truth is, if you are trying to reach international markets, you need to get acquainted with some of the world’s most popular social networks. In this blog post we cover the biggest networking channels and which countries use them the most. 1. Ameba - Japan Ameba is a popular blogging site in Japan, similar to Wordpress in the U.S. 2.
Badoo ranks #124 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. 3. While BlackPlanet isn’t used by one single nationality, it’s the most popular networking platform among the Black community online. 4. A 2009 study of 1000 people found out that the main social network in France is Copains d’Avant . 5. With Alexa Traffic Rank of 130 , Douban.com is one of the most visited sites globally. 7. 8. 10. 11. Worldwide Social Media Usage Trends in 2012. There's absolutely no doubt that social networks continue to play an increasingly important part in many people's lives. EMarketer predicts there will be a massive 1.43 billion social network users in 2012, representing a 19.2 percent increase over 2011 figures.
At some point we're bound to reach a social media saturation point, but it doesn't look like that point will arrive any time soon. Social media usage varies from place to place and from one demographic to the next. A Pew Internet survey found that 65 percent of Internet users in the U.S. used social networking sites, up from 61 percent the previous year. Sixty-one percent of adults under 30 reported that they used a social networking site at least once on a typical day while daily usage among Internet users aged between 50-64 rose sharply, from 20 percent in 2010 to 32 percent last year.
Alongside personal usage, more businesses are taking advantage of the benefits social media sites can offer. Facebook: "The Social Network" Twitter Is Blocked In Egypt Amidst Rising Protests. Inspired by the recent Tunisian demonstrations against corruption, protesters are filling the streets of Cairo . And like the protests in Tunisia , the Egyptian ones were partly organized on Facebook and Twitter. And now Twitter appears to be blocked in Egypt, according to various Tweets and tips we’ve received. However, so far only the Twitter website itself is blocked (including the mobile site), but people in Cairo are still using Twitter third-party clients to keep on Tweeting.
There are also reports of the entire mobile Web being blocked through mobile carriers, but at least one carrier, Vodafone Egypt, denies that it is blocking Twitter, attributing the problem to overloaded networks instead. Facebook is also being used to organize the demonstrations, with groups also popping up around the world to document the uprising and lend its support. Egypt's Facebook Revolution: Wael Ghonim Thanks The Social Network. How an Egyptian Revolution Began on Facebook. Egypt Facebook Statistics, Penetration, Demography. 'Revolution 2.0': How Social Media Toppled A Dictator.
When thousands of Egyptians began to gather in Tahrir Square in preparation for the planned Jan. 25, 2011, uprising, then-President Hosni Mubarak's beleaguered regime responded with familiar brutality and thuggery. And then, it made a tactical error: it clamped down on Facebook and Twitter. "The regime's decision to block these two websites," writes Internet activist Wael Ghonim in his book, Revolution 2.0, "was a grave mistake. " The Egyptian people sensed desperation in the state's actions — and proof of their own strength. In the early hours of that "Night of Rage," Ghonim wrote on the Facebook page he managed, "It is the beginning of the end.
" In Revolution 2.0, a memoir-cum-manifesto, Ghonim offers an insider's account of the days of anticipation and the exhilarating release that came with Mubarak's departure — as well as his own trajectory from marketing executive to one of the most recognizable faces of the revolution. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Sam Christmas. Social media, tipping points and revolutions. Behind the Curtain | Social Media Fills In for Muted State Media after Earthquakes - Tehran Bureau | FRONTLINE. Many residents of Ahar spent Saturday night outside in tents (Fars News Agency). A visual appeal for aid (Stands with Fist). Arash Karami, a frequent Tehran Bureau contributor, tweets as @thekarami. Negar Mortazavi, an Iranian journalist in Washington, D.C., tweets as @negarmortazavi. [ blog ] The Islamic Republic's state TV network and other media outlets have been widely criticized for not adequately covering the earthquakes Saturday that killed over 300 people and injured thousands.
The Tabnak website, which is often critical of the Ahmadinejad administration, ran an op-ed that rebuked those who "laid dormant while the country shook" and declared "public mourning for our fellow countrymen in Azerbaijan who lost their lives. " From the first hours after the initial quakes, social media users have taken an active role in sharing news and information about how to provide assistance. The earthquake has also raised the issue of sanctions. Copyright © 2012 Arash Karami and Negar Mortazavi. Social Media Iran the Iranian Social Media News Network. Social Media Fuels Protests in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen. <br/><a href=" US News</a> | <a href=" Business News</a> Copy More than 10,000 protesters swarmed the Main Square in the capital of Bahrain today, one of the largest political demonstrations ever seen in this nation's recent history, and a second protester was killed by police.
In Iran, after the biggest mass protests since the 2009 elections, members of Parliament gathered for a deadly chant, shouting that key opposition leaders "must be executed. " And in Yemen there was a fifth straight day of uprisings, with demostrators calling for the ouster of the authoritarian president. Behind all this was the power of the Internet, with protesters galvanized by a social media revolution. Despite the attempts of governments to block it, a Facebook page calling for "solidarity demonstrations" is creating a cyber wildfire.
The call is specific: "We encourage you to join the thousands on the street right now," the page says. It worked. Young Iranians Use Mobile and Social Media to Mobilize Grassroots Relief for Earthquake Victims. The middle class youth of Tehran have organized caravans to deliver relief supplies to the earthquake struck region of northern Iran. The New York Times describes the volunteers as "a mix of hipsters, off-road motor club members and children of affluent families" who decided to collect and deliver the supplies on their own after the Red Crescent, which is close to the government, came under criticismfor an inefficient and insufficient relief response.
The volunteers collected supplies, packed them into their own vehicles and drove them in convoys over badly-paved roads to the remote northeastern region of Iran, where the locals speak Turkish rather than Persian and most have never visited the capital city. Social Media and the Assassination of an Ambassador. The Lone Star State has led a surprisingly progressive overhaul of its incarceration system.
The story behind the bipartisan push that GOP contenders may be extolling come 2016. It appears Rick Perry is going to run for president again in 2016. Perry, 65, will leave the governor’s office next January after serving for 14 years, beginning in 2000, when George W. Bush resigned to prepare for the presidency. As he creeps back onto the national stage, Perry—who has overseen the executions of 268 people—more executions than any other governor in United States history—has brought with him an unlikely Lone Star State success story: prison reform.
In Texas, funneling money to special courts (like drug courts or prostitution courts), rehabilitation, and probation in an effort to make sure current offenders don’t reoffend, instead of continuing to make room for more prisoners, has resulted in billions saved and dramatically lower crime rates. The conservative movement to reform prisons is not new. Libya Recap: Snapshots from Social Media. The 11 September attack on Benghazi's consulate resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, three other US officials, and ten Libyan security officials. Initial accounts suggested that spontaneous protests against Terry Jones' "anti-Islam" video initiated the violence, but succeeding reports indicate the demonstration was used as a front for a premeditated, professional assault. Several scenarios, ranging from disgruntled extremist Salafists to fifth column elements remain plausible.
One probability also involves al-Qaeda elements; on 10 September, a video of Ayman al-Zawahiri surfaced, calling for Libyans to avenge the death of their compatriot Abu Yah7a al Libi, Al Qaeda's former "number two," who was killed in a June drone strike in Pakistan. [<a href=" target="_blank">View the story "Libya Recap " on Storify</a>]
The eRevolution – Social Networking and Media Revolution in Egypt. Call it The Egyptian Revolution, The eRovolution, iRevolution or Revolution 2.0. In any case, I believe we are watching a revolution that was not only written in Egyptian history, but world history. It will be a case study that I believe will be soon taught in many political science and business schools.
On Jan 25th, 2011, the world for the first time has witnessed a revolution that brilliantly leveraged the power of social networking tools to overthrow a corrupt regime. Facebook, twitter and blogs were all used to mobilize people all over Egypt. On Feb 11th, 2011, US president Barak Obama said: “There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. The Spark of The eRevolution The eRevolution was sparked by a group of young activists on Facebook calling for nationwide demonstrations to restore people’s dignity and ask for reform, freedom and social justice. A young protestor The Generation Gap Getting Around The Internet Filters. The Role of Social Media One year After the Egyptian Revolution. It has been a year since the start of Jan 25th 2011 Egyptian Revolution, many events took place during that past year, good and bad. What we would like to address here however, is the part the social media played in the aftermath and try to answer a few of the open questions we had in our last year’s post, The eRevolution; “Could social networking become a two-edge sword?
What if social networking is used by the wrong people or for the wrong reasons? What would constitute a wrong reason or the wrong people?” The Power of Social Media After a month of vacation which I spent in Egypt, I came back more confident of the power of social media, but at the same time realizing how a serious two-edge sword it could be. The absolute positive role social media played during the 18 days of the 25th of Jan, 2011 Revolution has been shattered and been transformed for the most part into a tool of creating chaos.
A New Democracy The Freedom of Speech Image : CartoonADay.com. Twitter, Facebook and Revolutions In Egypt, Libya, Tunisia. Young Egyptian men and women use their mobile phones to record the celebrations in Egypt's Tahrir Square at the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Photo: AFP Think of the defining image of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa - the idea that unites Egypt with Tunisia, Bahrain and Libya. It has not been, in itself, the celebrations of Hosni Mubarak's fall, nor the battles in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Nor even the fact of Mohammed Bouazizi's self-immolation in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, which acted as a trigger for all the events that have unfolded. Instead, that defining image is this: a young woman or a young man with a smartphone.
She's in the Medina in Tunis with a BlackBerry held aloft, taking a picture of a demonstration outside the prime minister's house. Protesters chant anti-government slogans while holding a banner depicting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tobruk. Advertisement Except social media has played a role. Rosen is right. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube’s role in Arab Spring (Middle East uprisings) [UPDATED 10/12/12] Flickr photo of Tunisian protests by marcovdz Democracy has finally come to parts of the mid-East and Northern Africa. What has been the role of social media and the Internet in these uprisings? First the facts and then some discussion of the role of social media: Background: The “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Mid-East heavily relied on the Internet, social media and technologies like Twitter, TwitPic, Facebook and YouTube in the early stages to accelerate social protest.
There are even allegations that the CIA was blindsided about the Egypt uprising by failing to follow developments on Twitter. There is less evidence that social media played a strong a role in places like Yemen (where Internet penetration is low) or Libya (where the government controlled Internet means of distribution and cracked down more effectively).
In Syria, where the “Arab Fall” and “Second Arab Spring” is still underway and the fighting has intensified and spread to Damascus’ suburbs. Tunisia: New study quantifies use of social media in Arab Spring. Arab spring: an interactive timeline of Middle East protests | World news. Arab Spring anniversary: how a lost generation found its voice | World news. Tweet Me to Your Leader: How the World's Big Shots Use Social Media - Matthias Lüfkens. Bulgarians use Facebook to expose slipshod police. Pussy Riot Members Maria Alyokhina And Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Sent To Russian Prison Camps. Corporate SA wakes up to social media. Social Media: a double-edged sword in Syria. Tunisian protests fueled by social media networks. Tunisia: The New Phase of Social Media.
A Tunisian on the role of social media in the revolution in Tunisia. How Iraq Is Using Reality TV and Facebook to Inspire a Generation of Peacemakers. 7 Steps For International Social Media Success. International Digital Hub - View Publication. 15 interesting facts about international social media use. Iphone and mobile marketing - Flip Media.
The Rewards and Pitfalls of Global Social-Media Campaigns | Special: Advertising Week. Social Media in the Middle East [Infographic] Infographic: Middle East mobile advertising impressions up 46% to 11.5 billion for InMobi | Digital Marketing. How the Arab World Uses Facebook and Twitter [INFOGRAPHICS] New study quantifies use of social media in Arab Spring. Andrew Lam: From Arab Spring to Autumn Rage: The Dark Power of Social Media.