I had heard about the situation in Egypt in passing for about the past month now. I would hear people speak of it in the halls, I would catch a glimpse of it on the news as I passed through the living room to leave my house, I would see headlines in the newspapers, but being that I am a full time student who holds two jobs, and tries to keep at least the most minimal amount of a social life, I never really had the time to sit down and really read about it or to sit down and really take the time to understand the news reports on CNN and Fox News (I know, I am a bit disappointed in myself as well). What was a big help through was being about to log onto the Internet on my smart phone. I could be in class or eating lunch and log on to Facebook or Twitter and see numerous status updates, comments, and blogs on friends and acquaintances thoughts on the Egyptian Revolution. These social networking sites helped keep me informed, as well as aided in the Egyptian Revolution itself.
In Sam Gusten’s article “Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt’s Revolutionary Fire” on Wired.com Gusten discuss just exactly how Facebook and Twitter made an impact on the Revolution. Social media expert and founder of PaidContent, Rafat Ali, states that “Facebook helped to organize the activists inside the country”, while “Twitter functioned to help get the message out to the broader world.
Ali also told Wired.com that social networking sites “act like an accelerant to conditions which already exist in the country. Twitter and Youtube serve as amplification for what’s happening on the ground. And they directly affect Western media coverage.” Through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, world news is able to reach all across the world and affect the lives of even the most busiest of people, myself included.
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