Egyptian Demonstrators Use of Twitter: Tactics, Mobilization, and Safety (original) (raw)

This paper analyzes the use of Twitter during the revolution in Egypt for three key dates during the 18 days of protests in 2011 that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. The data show how the demonstrators used Twitter to organize the protests, to mobilize committed demonstrators as well as ordinary citizens, to provide tactical and strategic know-how, to provide surveillance, and to bear witness to the violent acts against them by pro-Mabarak forces. The surveillance information included tweets providing security information such as minute-to-minute updates on what streets were being blocked by police, what the police were doing, and instructions telling demonstrators what information to tweet if they saw someone being arrested or if they found themselves under arrest. Other surveillance information included information such as what the international and state media were reporting.