Commentary: The impact of social networking tools on political change in Egypt’s “Revolution 2.0”

Inter-Social-Networking: Accounting for Multiple Identities

“…The issues we note above are not completely new: some in the W3C have previously noted similar issues concerning uniformity of addressing and access around cloud storage, 6 for example. However, these and other Linked Data approaches to managing our online identities, tend to make presumptions of constituent data being public, and fail to properly address questions such as selective sharing of and delegation of access to data, and the need for an 'app ecosystem' rather than a focus on human consumption of data.…”

“…Many reasons why we choose to explicitly manage overlap among our social networks, even keeping some networks completely distinct from others, are completely normal and not in the least clandestine. For example, teenagers wishing to discuss sensitive health matters in online fora [4], employees complaining about treatment at work [5], or those engaged in political commentary in uncomfortable or dangerous situations [6].…”

@hannah_arendt: An Arendtian Critique of Online Social Networks

“…64 Indeed, several studies suggest that 'social networking now seems to be impacting political and social life across the globe', indicating that online social networks as such have affected political elections in a range of countries, from the US to Iran and China. 65 Attia et al claim that both Facebook and Twitter have played not only a peripheral but rather indeed a pivotal role in the uprisings in the Arab world, aligning their assessment with Wael Ghonim's claim that the 'power of the people is greater than the people in power' in Revolution 2.0. enabled young Egyptians to 'freely communicate with each other and form groups to oppose Mubarak's totalitarian regime and government'. 67 Online social networks, and Facebook here specifically, thus crystallized as a proxy realm for a free physical public space that had been otherwise occluded in a totalitarian regime.…”

“…65 Attia et al claim that both Facebook and Twitter have played not only a peripheral but rather indeed a pivotal role in the uprisings in the Arab world, aligning their assessment with Wael Ghonim's claim that the 'power of the people is greater than the people in power' in Revolution 2.0. enabled young Egyptians to 'freely communicate with each other and form groups to oppose Mubarak's totalitarian regime and government'. 67 Online social networks, and Facebook here specifically, thus crystallized as a proxy realm for a free physical public space that had been otherwise occluded in a totalitarian regime. 68 Within this proxy realm of communicative freedom, social network users in Egypt (and beyond) developed ties and relations with one another in solidarity for a shared struggle for change.…”

Expectations and Reality: Opinion of the European Union in Ukraine

“…Social media's role during the Arab Spring convinced millions to become active online. In 2009, there were 800,000 Facebook users in Egypt (Attia, Aziz, Friedman, & Elhusseiny, 2011). By 2013, over 16 million Egyptians had Facebook profiles (Farid, 2013).…”