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| "Protestors charged their cellphones in a tangle of power bars and extension cords in Tahrir Square on Tuesday" - New York Times |
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Speak2Tweet
Speak2Tweet... it sounds catchy but what does it mean? This form of new media is allowing information about the revolution in Egypt to cross borders into places such as the United States and Germany. There were 50,000 protestors in the streets of Cairo and due to this contribution to Twitter, it has been said that the number of protestors are growing. People are using Google, Facebook and Twitter to post messages and updates about their protests. What I found most interesting was the SayNow social media platform that is an add on to Twitter. It is voice - based and the Egyptians call a number and leave a message which is ultimately transferred to Twitter and can be played through the website. This revolution to remove Egypt's leader, Hosni Mubarak, has gained momentum through social media devices and it is even at the point where protestors are going through desperate measures to charge their cellphones. The best part about Speak2tweet is that no Internet conncetion is needed. People used Vodafone and MobiNil to text and leave voice messages and they were able to call three different numbers to leave messages as well. According to Ujjwal Singh, the co-founder of SayNow, and AbdelKarim Mardini, Google’s product manager for the Middle East and North Africa their main priority is to make sure Egypt has all the support they can get. “We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.” This statement shows their concern for helping Egypt through their time of need and it also shows how important it is to stay connected. Since social media devices are a form of connection, it is necessary for these platforms to continue to develop and expand.
Click Here to see the latest video sent by Egyptians through speak2tweet
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Rian,
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting to me because I always wonder how people who may not have use of internet are using all these technologies we mention on our blog. This, however, makes more sense- almost everyone has a mobile device. I wonder when this technology came out, do you know? It would be interesting if it was thought up as a direct result of what is going on in Egypt or if it was coincidental. I think that Speak2Tweet is not only a catchy name, but is also a new technology that will catch on, especially in occurrences like that of Egypt where people want to be heard and have a voice. By that, I mean state their opinions for others to hear, but Speak2Tweet goes even further as it also enables actual voice to be heard, which I think is personalizing the effect of the statements being said. What do you think? Also, what does this mean for the unrest in Egypt, do you think this could cause more mayhem as people speak out or will most of the comments just be put aside or ignored?