This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
The Arab World is looking in awe at the developments unfolding in Egypt. Today, mainstream media is taking a back seat, while citizen media triumphs.
While new media plays an important role in shaping people's opinions, new means of communication play an important role on the ground where they also help in organizing the masses in protests and demonstrations. Arab bloggers here are discussing the role of all these means in the ongoing protests in Egypt, where thousands of people are taking to the streets to call of political and economic reforms.
Moroccan blogger Hisham wrote here about the role of media in the demonstrations in Egypt. He focused how the new social media tools have been used in Egypt, like they have been used in Tunisia earlier this month.
Hisham made a reference to the Tunisian uprising that preceded the Egyptian one, and shed more light on the role of Twitter and Facebook there.
In fact, social media tools aren't only used as a way for communication between the protesters. But many traditional media outlets in the region as well as outside the region are either ignoring the protests or giving them minimal and inappropriate coverage.
Jordanian blogger, Osama Romoh, who hated how the traditional media all over the region dealt with the events in Egypt, decided to help in spreading the news by sharing links of whatever related news he could get his hands on, on his own blog.
The Egyptian government also resorted to censoring the Internet in order to disable the people from using such social media tools. However, Jordanian blogger, Roba Al-Assi, was still able to get the news from Egypt. She wrote here how new media has changed the way she, and many of her generation, consumes the news now.
Our habits of consuming media and news have changed. Of course, the fact that traditional media is shooting itself in the foot by not covering one of the biggest events to affect Arabs in the past 10 years seriously does not help.
She then continued.
Many users on twitter called this “the picture of the day“.
Photo taken from the profile of @abanidrees on yfrog
And finally, Youssef wrote here about his anticipation for change in the whole region soon.
من ألأوضاع العامة في المنطقة
وكنتُ دوما أقلهم تفاؤلاً
إلا أنني أكاد أُجزم
أنني أشتمُ رائحة تسونامي التغيّير
تهبُ على المنطقة بأكملها
أما ماهيّة التغيّير فمن الصعب التكهن به
وإن كنتُ أُخمنُ أنها تغيّيرات جذريّة
I am the least optimistic when it comes to the situation in the region.
However, I have to tell you that I can feel the wind of change.
I feel it blowing on the whole region.
I might not be able to identify that change, but I guess it will be a major one.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
2 comments
“For the second time this month, I sit on my bed with my tablet in the dark and refresh a hashtag consistently for hours.
Our habits of consuming media and news have changed. Of course, the fact that traditional media is shooting itself in the foot by not covering one of the biggest events to affect Arabs in the past 10 years seriously does not help.”
the first time i truly had this experience was during the iranian crisis in 2009. ever since i have repeated the process with people’s unrest worldwide. it is fascinating and exhilarating to connect with folks halfway across the world by sharing info and trying our best to let each other in on what’s happening, given that big media has failed us.
here’s to a true people’s movement in the arab world, free from the hands of autocrats & us imperialism.