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 →
Meedan wins multi-year grant to support citizen news curation in Middle East
Meedan has won a multi-year grant to support an innovative news project in the Arab world that will help put Middle East citizens in the driving seat of news gathering. The grant was awarded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) under its freedom of expression and democratization program. It will support Meedan to begin prototyping a news platform for citizen media curation in Arabic and English in collaboration with regional media partners. A leading daily newspaper in Egypt has agreed to take part in the first year, to be... 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 →
WARNING: Social media is dangerous. Here's how you can reduce the risks.
Social Media in Repressive States: The Risks Egyptians could never have removed Hosni Mubarak, or even made the case for deep reform, without reclaiming the streets. Much of the struggle of the January 25 protests centred on whether protesters could maintain a popular presence in public space. The violence meted out by police and regime supporters sought to remove people from public space, and scare away those who were thinking of joining. It is widely thought social media played an important role in galvanizing protesters to take part. But social media... 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 →