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This graph shows the change in internet access in Egypt
from January 27th to 28th. |
I'm sure that everyone has been following what's going on in Egypt....we're all watching history in the making here folks. However, something that everyone may not know is that the Egyptian government cut off access to technology, in hopes of containing the growing cries for change. As you would imagine, one of the first things the government did was cut off internet access. To make matters worse, over the weekend, many cell phone towers were shut down which made it impossible for anyone to reach the internet from their celluar device. However, Google and Twitter, two companies which are known for their devotion to their users decided to
team up. Together, they were able to launch three international phone numbers, which can be reached from any landline worldwide. The idea behind this is that Twitter users in Egypt can phone in their tweets free of charge. They simply provide their log in information and are able to verbally post any message on their Twitter instantaneously. This also allows Twitter users to call in and ask for the recent tweets of whoever they follow on the networking site. Twitter also launched a site called
twitter.com/speak2tweet, that allows Twitter users from around the world to view tweets coming from protestors in Egypt. I believe the work of Google and Twitter is ground breaking, because it's helping millions of people to overcome the "restrictions" that are being put on them by the oppressive Egyptian government.
Citation: http://media.computerworlduk.com/cmsdata/news/3258465/Arbour_Egypt_Internet_cutoff.jpg
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteThis is all really interesting to me because although I knew about what's going on in Egypt, I knew very little. I had no idea that cell phone towers were shut down as well as internet access. I can't imagine what that must be like. The people there are moving back in time, rather than forward. I guess if they are using this new technology that twitter and google have launched together, then land lines must still be working. Do you know if this is true? I didn't even realize twitter was such a big thing outside of the U.S., much less Egypt. I wonder what they've been tweeting about, must be interesting to read without any bias from the news. Have you checked any of it out?