A Stagnant Revolution

This post is in response to an article from the Christian Science Monitor about the Revolution in Egypt: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1028/Egyptian-activists-try-to-bridge-digital-divide/(page)/2


Twitter helped organize and unite Egypt’s revolution, but can this form of activism accomplish anything substantial in the post-revolution? This article clearly leans to the side of no, but offers support for both sides. About 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line and less than 1 percent of Egypt is on Twitter. This leads us to believing that the revolution rose from middle class, meaning that the lower class isn’t getting its voice out nearly as much as the middle class. Changes will be made for the middle class and will not necessarily reflect the general public. The article argues that Egypt is not finished with its revolution because not everyone has had their say.


To learn more about the role Twitter played in the Revolution: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/01/the-twitter-revolution-debate-the-egyptian-test-case/21296/


Another problem that the people who are on Twitter and Facebook are talking but not taking action. Informing people on situations and how they feel only works to a certain degree. If someone doesn’t rise up and lead, how will anything get accomplished? They have the power to communicate, but not the knowledge of what to do with that power.


Many efforts have been made to congregate people to have them talk about what should be done. For example, The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights held a workshop in which people discussed what the best ways to communicate are. But this isn’t enough.


The Egyptian revolution is different from past revolutions in that there is no clear leader. The people, mostly middle class as mentioned above, have led it and voiced their opinions. My main concern is that because there is no central voice and consensus as to how things should be changed, the revolution will not be as successful as it could be with a leader.