I've been keeping track of the recent protests in Egypt, where tens of thousands of citizens rally to protest the lack of free speech or free elections, government corruption, police brutality, and poor economic conditions. The protests began on January 25th, and is ongoing, including demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, rioting, and violence between protesters and the police and military. In the last week, there have been more than 100 reported deaths, 3000 injuries, and 1000 protesters imprisoned, with the numbers growing every day. In an attempt to limit the protests, the Egyptian government shut down all cable and wireless internet access in the country, to prevent organizations through social media like facebook or twitter. However, some areas were still able to communicate through phone, and the Speak To Tweet service was set up within a few days. The service allows people to call one of three numbers and record a message, which is then posted on twitter. Although it is only a few days old, it already has more than 10,000 followers, and has messages from all over the world.
For many people, the internet is their primary way of keeping in touch with friends and family. Without sites like facebook or twitter, and with no email services, people in egypt were left with phone communication as the only way to communicate. Even then, they were still able to let the world know what was going on, and if anything, the internet blackout has caused more press coverage. Speak To Tweet is a free service, and I think it's a much more powerful way to speread the word than just text. The messages aren't just a bunch of words, it's people who are in the protests, and is much more human. Now that internet is finally coming back to Egypt, I'm wondering how it will affect the protests, which already number in the tens of thousands, and what's going to happen to the Egyptian government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/world/middleeast/02twitter.html?ref=technology
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