Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts

Collaborative Documentary Weaves Stories of Egyptian Revolution

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About 400 people gathered in Tahrir Square Thursday to launch a new kind of documentary about the Egyptian revolution.

Instead of putting together a traditional, continuous film, creators of 18DaysInEgypt are asking individuals to submit media they created while living it. Tags those contributors add about the date, their feelings and their location will eventually help connect individual stories.

Jigar Mehta, a Knight Fellow at Stanford University and former New York Times video journalist, originally started the project hoping to pull content directly from Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. But he and co-creator Yasmin Elayat quickly found difficulties in determining context from social media posts.

“We thought, instead of being ahead of contributors pulling content, let’s push them to contribute,” Mehta says.

The first of the site’s contributions came from about 100 photographers, journalists and bloggers who served as beta testers. Elayat and Mehta also had “ambassadors” collect media from people who weren’t connected to the Internet. Thursday was the public contributions launch.

Using a contribution tool, anyone can compile videos, photos, tweets and Facebook posts into a slideshow module for the 18DaysInEgypt website. They then have options to add aforementioned tags and additional text. So far, people have used the tool in a variety of ways, many of them — like a video slideshow of activist musicians — in ways the team hadn’t anticipated.

A concert at the 18DaysInEgypt launch party at Tahrir Square on Thursday.

“The Egyptian edition of the Daily Star has edited a picture of a Kefaya demonstrator in its 19 December print issue,” wrote one contributor. “[it] carefully blurred the anti-Mubarak writings on the Kefaya demonstrator’s poster.”

“One man had the audacity to grope my arse, not once, but twice, within 30 seconds,” wrote another.

“The latest fighting started when a boy who was part of the cabinet sit-in was brutally beaten by soldiers,” wrote a third.

Eventually viewers will be able to click hyperlinks in each of these modules to see others that took place at the same time, with the same person or at the same location — in other words, how the censorship, beating and arse grabbing were connected. It’s a view of storytelling that has gotten some attention, including a grant from the Tribeca New Media Fund.

Mehta and Elayat are working on making the concept available for telling other stories as well. They plan to launch a storytelling platform based on 18DaysInEgypt, GroupStre.am, within the next few months.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Maggie Osama

keep up with the newest technologies and contemplate about how these will be used in the future. On this blog I'll share my thoughts about the future of technology, based on the high Tech Road Show Blog inventions of today.
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The percentage increase of 10% The use of social sites faster prevalent in Egypt and Russia

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The percentage increase of 10% A report issued by the Center for "Bio" for research on the use of modern techniques of social networking in 21 countries, both in Egypt and Russia before the stages of the world regarding the use of electronic means of social communication. The report showed that the population of poor countries send SMS messages more than the population-rich countries, while the men used in both Spain and Germany the Internet on their phone more intelligent than women. The report also noted that the phenomenon of SMS text messaging is the most prevalent globally, in the countries surveyed show that 75% of mobile owners use the service. Did not change the use of social networking sites as "Facebook and Twitter" between 2010 and 2011, except for Egypt, which increased the proportion of use of social networking sites from 18% last year, to 28% this year, in addition to Russia, which increased the proportion of use of social networking sites 33% to 43%. The social networking sites as "Facebook and Twitter" one of the tools that sparked the revolution in Egypt and led to the fall of the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, said observers, the social networking sites contributed to the mobilization of the demonstrations in Moscow, when tens of thousands of Russians to the streets to demonstrate against the Parliament in the issue of rigged elections. The survey sample ranged between 700 and 4000 people in 21 countries, and most other results published by the report were Indonesia, Kenya, the two most states use two SMS messaging, as the figure was 96% and 89% respectively, while did not exceed this percentage to 67% in United States of America. As in Spain, reaching the proportion of males who use the Internet via their mobile phones to 29% compared with 13% of the females, while the ratio in Germany 26% to 11% in Turkey, 30% to 14%, according to the network "CNN's" American. The percentage of users of social sites in the United States to 50% compared with both India and Pakistan, the figure reached in each of them to 5% and 2% respectively.
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Twitter’s 15 Major Milestones in 2011

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Much like any other year, 2011 experienced major events that shook the world, whether the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East or the worldwide protests led by Occupy Wall Street.

But in 2011, microblogging service Twitter was at the epicenter of these events, broadcasting minute-to-minute updates and firsthand experiences from users to the rest of the world.

For protesters, Twitter served as a primary communicator to connect with other protesters and civilians, organize meetings and post pictures and videos of uprisings. Unfortunately, hundreds of protesters who encouraged violence via social media, or who were photographed and filmed taking part in the violence, were prosecuted.

SEE ALSO: Top 16 Tweets-Per-Second Moments of 2011 | The 21 Most Memorable Tweets of 2011

Twitter also launched new upgrades and designs for its services and made several acquisitions, including web advertising company AdGrok, social analytics platform BackType and lists and interests-focused startup Bagcheck.

Unfortunately for Twitter, 2011 also brought a number of scams — from 11.6 hours to a beach body weight-loss product to the Tweeter Viewer, these scams targeted many user accounts.

Check out the gallery below to see more of Twitter’s major milestones in 2011.

1. Egypt Blocks Twitter As Protests Become Violent

January: After violence between anti-government protesters and police continued to erupt in Cairo, Egypt, the Egyptian government censored microblogging service Twitter as well as other websites.

Social media played a key role throughout Egypt's protests. First, the protests were organized through a Facebook Page, then protesters turned to Twitter to post photos, video feeds and other information about the protests, using several hashtags devoted to the revolution.

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Social networking booming in Egypt, Russia, survey finds

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A woman talks on a mobile phone in Cairo's Tahrir Square on February 12, 2011.
A woman talks on a mobile phone in Cairo's Tahrir Square on February 12, 2011.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Survey: Use of social networks grew dramatically amid recent upheavals in Egypt and Russia
  • People in poorer countries such as Kenya send texts more often than those in wealthier ones
  • New Pew Research Center report measured the usage of digital communication in 21 countries

(CNN) -- People in poorer countries send text messages more often than those in wealthier countries. Men in Spain and Germany access the Internet on their phones twice as much as women do.

And use of online social networks grew dramatically in Egypt and Russia over the past year, most likely as part of the recent political upheavals in those countries.

These are among the results of a new report that measured the usage of digital communication in 21 countries. The survey by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project found that text messaging is now a widespread global phenomenon: In the countries polled, 75% of cell phone owners say they text.

In almost all the countries surveyed, the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter didn't change much from 2010 to 2011. Two notable exceptions were Egypt, where 28% of respondents now use social networks -- up from 18% last year -- and Russia, where social-networking use rose from 33% to 43%.

Facebook and other networking tools played a prominent role in the revolution that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February. Protesters organized so effectively on social networks that the Egyptian government shut down the Internet for five days in an unsuccessful attempt to quell the uprising.

Observers say social networks also have helped mobilize protesters in Moscow, where tens of thousands have filled the streets to speak out against Russian parliamentary elections they say were rigged. The Pew survey found that only 6% of Internet users in Russia were not on social-networking sites.

Researchers conducted the survey face-to-face and via telephone in the spring of this year. Sample sizes in each country ranged from 700 in Japan to more than 4,000 in India.

Among the survey's other findings:

-- Of the countries surveyed, text messaging was most common in Indonesia and Kenya, where 96% and 89% of people said they regularly send texts. By contrast, 67% of people in the United States were frequent texters.

-- In Spain, 29% of male cell phone owners use their devices to access the Internet, compared to 13% of female phone owners. This mobile-Web gender gap was also pronounced in Germany (26%/11%) and in Turkey (30%/14%).

-- Social networking is generally more common in wealthier nations, largely driven by the fact that they have higher rates of Internet access. For example, 53% of respondents in Israel and 50% of respondents in the U.S. said they use social networks, compared with 5% in India and 2% in Pakistan.

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"Twitter" and a new interface called amazing potential

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To facilitate communication with all the ease and effectiveness of

Revealed the social networking site "Twitter" for the new interface and new design and a comprehensive yet electronic, as well as for applications for twitter mobile devices based on the operating system "Android" or "any OS".
Is based on the new design to divide page to 5 main sections, ie, add 3 tabs new, respectively: "Home" and "Connect" and "Discover" and "Me" and "Tweet", to allow users to stay connected to their interests more easier and smoother.
It includes the first tab "Home" and a comprehensive overview on each of the Alngredat that appear in the right side, news, comments and other information about the people around you.
The tab "Connect" to conduct other on the talks and the participation of friends, acquaintances and family and see who is following all-new you, or those who you follow and information on new followers.
The biggest change with the new update the tab "Discover", where the business is collecting all the information of interest to the user, and reviews the current activities of those who follow the user or suggestions followers and new show in the left side, as well as enable the user to find the friends, as well as to link this tab New users stories via tweets, preview, news sources and watch their own videos and follow up all Alngredat relating to each story.
The tab "Me", reviews the all the profiles for the user, lists, and links its own, and can send and receive news directly, in addition to the observers for the user to have the possibility to see the pictures and video clips that the user downloaded directly to its own profile.
And the push of a button on the key "Tweet" the user can news of new knowledge and its sources of origin and see the images and video, using the "@" can start to talk with other members.
It should be noted that the last major redesign of the site Twitter was more than a year ago, in mid-September 2010 the site division faced into two main sections, are grouped the content of the user of the images and Fido and data has induction and information sources inside and, before that should have user left the home page of the inventory of the number of Alngredat published.
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Why 2011 Will Be Defined by Social Media Democracy

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youtubeImage by Sean MacEntee via FlickrEkaterina Walter is a social media strategist at Intel. She is a part of Intel's Social Media Center of Excellence and is responsible for company-wide social media enablement and corporate social networking strategy. She was recently elected to serve on the board of directors of WOMMA. On Jan. 25, 2011 pictures and videos flooded out of Egypt as tens of thousands of anti-government protestors took to the streets in a "Day of Rage" protest over President Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Pro-democracy sympathizers across the world retweeted and shared the updates, even as the Egyptian government disabled cellphone towers and blocked Twitter in an attempt to censor the material. Reports indicated that households and businesses opened up their Wi-Fi networks to support the protesters and to allow the dissemination of information. The pictures and videos that continued to appear across YouTube and Facebook trended on Twitter worldwide, both inspiring and shocking international onlookers.
2011: The Year of Social Media Democracy
Social Media as a Tool of Change
Mob Rule: The Darker Side of Social MediaHuman Spirit Triumphs


Besides bank defaults and credit downgrades, 2011 will be remembered for the rise of social media democracy in countries traditionally ruled by autocratic governments — most notably, the Arab Spring. The wave of protests that began in Tunisia in December 2010 spread first to Egypt, then to Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yeman, with protests of varying sizes across many more middle-Eastern countries.
In regions where official media has been heavily censored for years, the rise of personal access to the Internet and social networks has meant that populist movements now have a voice that can reach the outside world.
Before 2011, ad-hoc events organized by social media had largely been entertaining and quirky, often put together by arts groups such as Improv Everywhere, which staged flash mobs in Grand Central Station. And let's not forget the social media craze planking.Soon, however, Twitter hashtags, Facebook groups, YouTube videos and Flickr streams would be employed by the masses in countries where censorship had traditionally blocked anti-government voices. Representatives of populist discontent were able to adopt and adapt new methods of communication to reach each other and outside sympathizers, often at terrible risk to their own lives and the safety of their families. Social media democracy began to take on a new meaning; a collective voice was now able to document its struggle for the first time.
After opposition to Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi turned bloody, NATO intervened to lend rebels military support in the escalating civil war, and to help to protect civilians. On both sides of the struggle, the control of information became a major tool for encouraging or intimidating civilian uprisings. After Colonel Gadaffi's death, photographs flooded social media, a further triumph for social democracy and the fall of a despotic, censorious regime.
Yet Western issues of people-power and censorship would soon be tested, in what some viewed as the darker side of "mob rule." In Aug. 2011, London was rocked by four days of rioting. What started as a peaceful protest against the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan escalated into violence, arson and looting, mainly against the rioters' own communities, as well as against police. The violence soon detached itself from the original cause, and became an outlet for the tensions of an underclass hit hard by high unemployment and recent austerity measures. Rioting quickly spread to other towns.
Social media not only played a role in riot organization, but also in the prosecution of hundreds of participants who either incited violence via social media, or who were photographed and videoed taking part in such violence. Some in the UK government and press claimed social media had enabled the riots. However, people used the same tools to organize clean-up operations and to contribute community support.
As demonstrated by the countries affected by the Arab Spring and London riots, social media has been one of many important tools used by people to affect change. As with any strategy, social media lends itself to both moral and amoral uses – it is the intention behind it that matters. Social media cannot substitute for the incredible bravery and resilience of the people who stood up to oppressive regimes, at the risk and cost of their own lives. It was the passionate desire for change and human determination that drove the spirit of the uprisings, and what ultimately achieved success in overthrowing powerful military dictatorships. In the case of the Arab Spring, the rebels' adoption of new technologies such as social media gave voice to a powerful movement, despite the censorship of the official media. Ultimately, however, it was their courage and self-sacrifice that forced the change
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Google Doodle Readies Voters for Egypt Election

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Google is highlighting the 2011 Egyptian elections with a doodle on its search homepage for Egypt. Each of the six letters that spell out “Google” perform an action of the voting process — from waiting in line to adding a vote to the ballot box.
Monday marks the country’s first parliamentary elections since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in the wake of a massive uprising earlier this year. Polls are open in Cairo, Alexandria and seven other provinces. Giza, Aswan and Suez voting begins on Dec. 14, Bloomberg reports.
Though it’s uncertain whether the Google doodle will inspire Egyptians to vote, they’re undoubtedly taking notice.
“I find [the Goodle doodle] very significant to the new generation in Egypt that uses technology. We all know what Google is and what it means for them to give us some international attention,” says Nasry Esmat, an Egyptian journalist living in New York. “The doodle adds more to our pride.”
The doodle isn’t Google’s first contribution to the much-anticipated Egypt elections. In September, the company developed an election API to facilitate the voting process. It not only gave citizens easy access to elections information, including polling locations and candidate profiles, but also allowed mobile service providers the opportunity to develop election applications.
“The majority of Egyptians still cant use the Internet or computers, but these tools are very effective because they help those who have basic knowledge to spread the information,” Esmat says. “And, honestly, those who have basic knowledge are the ones who can make change in Egypt.”

BONUS: More Google Doodles


The Christmas Google Doodle



Each package gets larger with a mouse-over, and a click on it returns search results pertinent to a specific country or the particular items featured in a scene. This one is from December 24, 2010.
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