Egypt’s revolution is in turmoil but its social media activism points to a bright future
“Same book, different cover.” That was how a well-connected social media manager described Egypt’s post-revolution transition when the Meedan team met him last week in Cairo. Working in a pristine air conditioned office located in the rapidly expanding hinterland of the Egyptian capital, our contact nevertheless expected 2012 to be a year of dramatic growth and vitality in the Egyptian web publishing market. In the city centre, heavily armed soldiers still surround the crumbling Maspero television building, long the propagandistic power base of the Mubarak regime, now circled with barbed... Read The Rest →
Are you following the Arab spring through social media? Share your experiences
How can we better assess the credibility of citizen news reports online? What tools would help us to cross-reference and investigate citizen content? As part of a multi-year project with partners in Egypt and the United States, Meedan is supporting journalists to sort citizen media for credibility and accuracy. Here we ask you to help us understand the features we need to make this possible. Please fill in this 4-minute questionnaire, and if you want us to follow up with you for an interview, please give us a shout on... Read The Rest →
Meedan at the Oxford Internet Institute: Understanding the role of the internet in Egypt's revolution
The role that social media played in the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions is one question among many in understanding these profoundly important social events. But perhaps it is a particularly important one for Meedan – after all we are strategically wedded to the idea that the web makes possible a more networked world in which information and ideas can be exchanged more freely. That this debate has gathered such steam through the Arab revolutions is in part a feature of the newness of social media, but also the extent to... Read The Rest →
Meedan Translates Libyan Blogger for Guardian Comment is Free
In a partnership with the Guardian Comment is Free, we are working to source, translate and edit comment pieces from bloggers on the ground in Middle Eastern countries experiencing revolutionary protests and reform movements. Our latest effort involved working with a brilliant young Libyan blogger based in Tripoli whose piece was published today after we translated it. Here’s a snippet from the Guardian piece: as the calls for foreign intervention grow, I’d like to send a message to western leaders: Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy. This is a priceless opportunity that... Read The Rest →
Middle East Protests: Follow Voices on the Ground
The protests sweeping the Middle East have taken much of the world by surprise. But perhaps that just means those of us outside the region need to listen better. We now have the opportunity to learn about emerging currents in societies in the region from the people who live there. Social media and the emerging independent press give us that opportunity. So in an effort to help you discover new people to follow on Twitter, new blogs and columnists to watch and new Facebook pages to fan, we have created... Read The Rest →