Monday, January 24, 2011

Twitter Revolution in Tunisia


The recent protests in the north African nation Tunisia has been labeled with several names such as "Human-, Jasmine-, People power-, WikiLeaks Revolution," and this time, "Twitter Revolution."
Earlier, I reported the opposing views of two popular and respected bloggers about the role of the Internet and mobile communications that sent former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali out of the country on 14 January.
What is Twitter Revolution?
According to the National Post, joining Iran and Moldova, Tunisia is the third country that has undergone the so called "Twitter Revolution."
However, Tunisia's version was distinctively characterized by the use of the microblogging site to warn demonstrators of sniper locations, or to guide activists through the on-the-ground ruckus. There was mention of a person who said that Twitter "saved his life".
The country has 35 percent Internet penetration rate while cellphone usage was reported to be over 95 percent.
The report also said that during the time the president fled, there was a flood of tweets something close to six tweets per second! That will be 21,600 every hour.
The report goes on to say that it was through the microblogging site that North America came to know the uprising.
However, it is said that the use of social media is not a guarantee for success. It is one among the many factors that will make a successful revolution. Unlike in Iran, Tunisia was successful because the people were ready and knew how to disseminate the information.
More details of this report through this link.
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