BF2S Forums Egypt Unrest.

Just like many of you, I’ve kept a close watch on the Egypt revolution these past weeks. Today, I’m reading a lot of articles saying Egypt would not be ‘free’ if it wasn’t for the internet.

If you look further than the past few weeks, you’ll discover that this 18 day revolution did not begin with guns or terror, but with tweets and texts. Before they rallied on the streets, young Egyptians organized groups on Facebook, and they showed the world what was going on in their country through tweets and viral videos on YouTube.

Google manager Wael Ghonim is regarded as a revolution leader: he set up an important Facebook page that helped organize effective protests. He became a (reluctant) icon when he was jailed for 12 days. In an interview with 60 minutes, Ghonim said: “If there were no social networks, it would have never been sparked.”
He continued: “Without Facebook, without Twitter, without Google, without YouTube – this would have never happened.”

Before the revolution started, Ghonim posted videos of brutality by Egyptian police on the web in his spare time. When Egyptian online activist Khaled Said was beaten to death after trying to expose police corruption, Ghonim decided to fight the 30-year regime. He started a Facebook page called “we are all Khaled Said.”

Thousands of Egyptians began sharing pictures and videos of abuse and mistreatment on that Facebook page. Ghonim and others started organizing and announcing protests, and hundreds of people started showing up. Most of these protesters had never met each other, they purely responded to an online calling.

Even though Ghonim is now seen as a revolution leader, many more people were involved at the heart of this uprising.  Much more happened than just tweets, texts, and Facebook posts.

However, Mubarak shut down the internet for a reason. Before the protesters gathered, they organized online. More than a third of the Arab world uses social media, and the government was simply trying to stop the organizing and rallying online.

However, while it is interesting to look at the role of social media in this revolution – let’s not forget that these tools are not the true reason people gathered on the streets. People got together because they wanted to see change.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said that the emphasis on social media “”takes away from what these people have accomplished.”

Let’s not forget the true reason behind this revolution. It’s the strong will of ordinary citizens – who were sick and tired of a 30-year regime. Whether it was on Facebook or on the streets, they stood together – and that’s the true reason.

Varegg wrote:

There are scattered reports coming in that the Egyptian military have confined and tortured many of the rioters ...

1. Is it true ...
2. Is it planted to discredit the military

I saw this in a newscast on Norwegian TV last evening and my first though was "who benefits from this information", the reason for me to think just that is because the Egyptian military normally sides unconditionally with the people and would gain absolutely nothing from this kind of behaviour but rather loose support at a time they especially need to be impartial in terms of who will gain power ...

Dilbert_X wrote:

FEOS wrote:

AussieReaper wrote:

Anyone want to make any wild guesses on their stance with Israel/Palestine when the new Govt. forms?

/re-directing this thread to a direction that won't be derailed.

rrriiiggghhhttt...

Its a critical issue and very much related to unrest in Egypt.
Where they go with the peace treaty has immense potential to affect Egypt, the ME, what happens to Palestine etc.

Its the main reason the US has been funding Egypt all these years after all.

Cultural relativity is an amazing thing. While American parents worry about their kids being on Facebook, Egyptian parents are naming their kids “Facebook,” to commemorate the events surrounding the #Jan25 revolution.

According to Al-Ahram (“The New York Times of Egypt”) a man in his twenties named his first born daughter Facebook in tribute to the role the social media service had in organizing the protests in Tahrir Square and beyond.