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How one man tracked down Anonymous-and paid a heavy price While Anonymous may have seized "new chances for digital activism" it remains subject to investigations and attacks both on the group's concepts and any individuals that can be identified. Its aim to achieve political change through civil disobedience leaves individuals open to prosecution and persecution if identified. This article looks further at attempts to infiltrate Anonymous. It becomes a contest between those seeking to expose the real identities of the Anonymous activists and the activist's responses to these attacks. This article describes one such conflict. It is not clear from the article just what the result was and it is implied that publicity was the aim for an attempt to gain Government Internet Security contracts. The interesting point is that a loose gathering of diversely motivated activists is as vulnerable to cyber attacks as the targets they attack. In a private e-mail Barr is quoted to have said :"They think I have nothing but a hierarchy based on IRC [Internet Relay Chat] aliases!" he wrote. "As 1337 as these guys are supposed to be they don't get it. I have pwned them! :)" (Andersen, 2011) The article claims that from leaked e-mails it attained the full story of how Barr infiltrated Anonymous, used social media to compile his lists, and even resorted to attacks on the codebase of the Low Orbit Ion Cannon-and how others at his own company warned him about the pitfalls of his research. What is 'pwned'? "Pwned" means "to be controlled against your will", or "to be defeated by a superior power". The noun version is pwnage. The "pwn" expression originated in the 1980's from the word "owned". It was used to describe when a hacker would take remote control of a server or another computer. The use of "p" to replace "o" was simply a misspelling at first, but the spelling stuck as a stylistic point. (Gil, 2011) What is 1337? "H

What is 1337? "Hacker "Sp33k" for leet, or elite. Originating from 31337 "eleet" the UDP port used by Dead Cow Cult, a hacker group, to access Windows 95 using Back Orifice, a notorious hacking program." (Urban Dictionary, 2011) Works Cited Andersen, N. (2011, March). How one man tracked down Anonymous-and paid a heavy price. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from ars technica: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/how-one-security-firm-tracked-anonymousand-paid-a-heavy-price.ars Gil, P. (2011). What is 'pwned'? Retrieved April 10, 2011, from About.com: http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/p/f/pwned.htm Urban Dictionary. (2011). Retrieved April 10, 2011, from Urban Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=1337

Low Orbit ION Cannon This hacking tool can be downloaded free of charge by anyone from Source Forge. (abatishchev, 2011) This is interesting as it will probably be illegal for anyone to use the tools to "impair the operation" of a computer which includes servers. According to reports on the Source Forge you should note that the program may include Trojans. There is a clear warning: USE ON YOUR OWN RISK. WITH NO ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES. In Great Britain for example anyone who uses Low Orbit ION Cannon would be likely to have committed an offence under Computer Misuse Act 1990. Specifically: "This subsection applies if the person intends by doing the act-(a)to impair the operation of any computer;(b)to prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in any computer;(c)to impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data; or(d)to enable any of the things mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c) above to be done." "A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable-(a)on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both;(b)on summary conviction in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both;(c)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to a fine or to both." (Computer Misuse Act 1990, 1990) Works Cited abatishchev. (2011, January 23). Low Orbit Ion Cannon. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/loic/ Computer Misuse Act 1990. (1990). Retrieved April 11, 2011, from legislation.gov.uk: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18/section/3

A loosely organised group of hackers is targeting oppressive regimes and says this is just the beginning (Anonymous, 2011). Anonymous presents a mechanism for socio-political change, using the available technological infrastructure that also facilitates such movements as WikiLeaks. This opinion piece, hosted by Al Jazeera, describes an evangelical movement in protest against what they perceive to be oppressive establishments, as governments or institutions. They consider themselves a movement for digital activism, and in this article focus almost exclusively on the plight of the Tunisian people, with mentions of attacks on the Church of Scientology and WikiLeaks, and the Australian government following the introduction of internet censorship laws (Anonymous, 2011). The article reads like a resume of Anonymous' achievements, and the motivations behind their actions, such as the WikiLeaks release of material exposing atrocities perpetrated by the Tunisian government provoking participants in the Anonymous network to attack via distributed denial of service (DDoS) non-essential government websites and replace them with messages of support for the Tunisian people (Anonymous, 2011). Such activities require the concerted efforts of collaborating individuals across a potentially widely dispersed online network. When compared with GetUp!, a community-minded tool for promoting activism for campaigns relevant to Australians, or Avaaz, a global community-minded campaign tool, the Anonymous movement, though also created with the best intentions, still reads in this article as taking matters more directly into their own hands, with limited accountability. The article uses such language as 'information warfare', 'revolution', and 'attacking', and endorses the breaking of laws to achieve what members of the movement believe in; '[t]here is a reason, after all, that those of us who have seen the movement up close have dedicated our lives to what it stands for, and have even vio

[Please note: This comment is in three parts due to Diigo restrictions on length] This is a very interesting article Chris, as it was broadcast in 2001 when the majority of people were getting their own home computers and only 35% of Australian dwellings reportedly had access to the Internet (ABS, 2007). The radio transcript of Williams and Macinnis (2001) is therefore unique in the way it is questioning the use of new "Internet technology" and how, in the light of historical perspectives, new technology usually has a long adaptation rate (Williams & Macinnis, 2001). The "rear-view mirror" approach was also an eye-opener for me, as I had never thought of the adaptation of new technology in that way before. However on reflection, Macinnis' thoughts are very true. In fact his historical look at technology and how the train was originally known as the "iron horse" is reminiscent of the ideas in one of the set articles on technological determinism where each "age" was labeled after the most prominent tool of that era, resulting in the "bronze age," "iron age" and so on. Macinnis' views on the value of the Internet for educational purposes are quite astounding considering we are still going through our very own evolution with Internet delivery of our University subjects. His predictions are almost becoming a reality ten years later. [Continued in comment below]

[Continuation of comment above] However the Australian Department of Education, at least in NSW, still has a long way to go. Despite a wealth of peer-reviewed documentation on the benefits of social media, teachers will only be allowed to access social media for teaching purposes from the start of Term 2, 2011. I even found a slideshare issued by the NSW Department of Education in 2009 to assist teachers to grasp the concept of "Social Learning 2.0" (NSWDET, 2009). The meta-data method that you mentioned is quite a good idea. I found a slideshare presentation on it that helped explain the area for my understanding (Downes, 2007). In terms of how your topic of educational enhancement by social media relates to my topic of Flash Mobs, if social media is taught uniformly across all Australian schools, then students will benefit from gaining greater insight to accessing information through the portal of their computers. For my chosen topic of Flash Mobs however, there is not much of a correlation with educational enhancement via social media use although a background in and access to social media are both necessary and important contributing factors to the successful implementation and organization of Flash Mobs. Thanks for sharing your article Chris. [Please navigate to next comment for References used]

being a dangerous example on creating unrest and instability in society. All these questions can only be answered in time, but it does make you think about social media in a completely different light, representing the power and capability of these platforms to gain exposure and organization to a vast audience. References Osam, M. (2011). The eRevolution. Retreived, April 13, 2011. From http://www.famousbloggers.net/the-erevolution.html Franco, J. (2011). Egyptian government orders Internet blackout amid protests. Retreived, April 13, 2011. From http://www.techspot.com/news/42194-egyptian-government-orders-internet-blackout-amid-protests.html

Quote: On Jan 25th, 2011, the world for the first time has witnessed a revolution that brilliantly leveraged the power of social networking tools to overthrow a corrupt regime. Facebook, twitter and blogs were all used to mobilize people all over Egypt (Osam, 2011a) . This article can be related to mine in different ways. From further research, the organisation that I have used in this project Avaaz, has also aided to Egypt's cause and is still aiding toward Egypt's plight. In one way, they are seeking one million signatures on a partition called Stand With The People of Egypt, where they hope to "... end three decades of repressive rule" (Avaaz.org, 2011a). This petition includes links to also promote it through the use of Email, Facebook and Twitter to spread the word. Concurrently, Avaaz has also helped Egypt with a petition to stop Mubarak taking "... billions in stolen public money with him" (Avaaz.org, 2011b). Avaaz needed to collect 550,000 signatures, which they were successful in collecting. The author Muhamed Osam wrote the article, The eRevolution (Osam, 2011a), using a variety of sources and incorporates links to them. Osam has written a few other articles, and is very popular in social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others. His biography states that he is "A network engineer and a security specialist with a BSc degree in Computer Engineering, MS in Computer Networks, MBA in International Business and MS in global management" (Osam, n.d.) I agree with Tim Findlay's thoughts as he concludes that, "... it does make you think about social media in a completely different light, representing the power and capability of these platforms to gain exposure and organization to a vast audience" (Findlay, 2011). These organisations and the use of social networking tools do seem to make the world a smaller but better place.

activists to broadcast live video feeds even during internet and phone blackouts" (Avaaz.org, 2011c). This is a campaign to raise monies through 30,000 donors. Many more of their success stories can be viewed on the highlights page of the Avaaz website, success stories from the Avaaz movement worldwide (Avaaz.org, 2011d). References: Avaaz.org. (2011a).The World in Action Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en/about.php Avaaz.org. (2011b). Stand With Anna Hazare [Petition]. Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_anna_hazare/ Avaaz.org. (2011c). Blackout-proof the protests [Fund-raising]. Retrieved from https://secure.avaaz.org/en/blackout_proof_the_protests/?vc Avaaz.org. (2011d). Success stories from the Avaaz movement worldwide. Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en/highlights.php

The opening statement to this web site reads " Avaaz is a global movement to bring people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere" (Avaaz.org, 2011) Immediately the reader is in no doubt that this is an organisation that is able to bring together large numbers of people to influence governments worldwide. Like other commentators I had not been aware of this organisation and spent some time researching. Unlike flash mobs and Anonymous, it appears that Avaaz has a formal structure and employs staff. As their website points out the staff write email alerts to the community and work with experts to develop campaign strategies (Avaaz.org, 2011). But it is the Avaaz community that decide where and how to campaign. This is very reminiscent of the Australian Democrats, where all policies are decided by a poll of members (Australian Democrats, 2011). Flash mobs occur in local communities, but the global nature of Avaaz means that this can be magnified to call attention to new issues on a worldwide or country-by-country basis if needed. The key to Avaaz, flash mobs and Anonymous is the use of Internet communication Technology. As the Avaaz website points out in "previous times each group would need to build up a constituency to reach a scale that could make a difference….Today thanks to new technology and ….. global interdependence this constraint no longer applies" (Avaaz.org, 2011). Australian Democrats.(2011). Structure of the Australian Democrats. Retrieved from http://www.democrats.org.au/about/structure.htm Avaaz.org.(2011). The World in Action. Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en/about.php

Avaaz's systems of collaboration allow decentralized networks to form around community and global projects, " ...(taking) action on pressing global, regional and national issues, from corruption and poverty to conflict and climate change" (Avaaz 2011). The Avaaz community, like Anonymous, are examples of how decentralized networks of like-minded individuals are capable of achieving common goals. The influences and successes that these groups are currently having regarding the sharing of global resources and fighting for basic human rights and freedoms of information show how powerful these network structures can be. The strength and flexibility of collective intelligence networks such as Avaaz and Anonymous is found in the diversity of their participants. For example, Avaaz uses methods that "allows thousands of individual efforts, however small, to be rapidly combined into a powerful collective force" (Avaaz 2011). Similarly, Anonymous is "a loose network of people with shared values and varying skill sets" (Anonymous, 2011). Like all collective intelligence networks, every member of these groups is acknowledged as having valuable skills that can benefit the community - so a method of harnessing this is input has been developed. However Avaaz and Anonymous use different techniques regarding how they attempt to achieve their goals. Avaaz use socially and politically transparent methods of traditional protest such as "signing petitions, funding media campaigns and direct actions, emailing, calling and lobbying governments, and organizing "offline" protests and events". In contrast, Anonymous are notorious for their use of "distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks" using software such as 'Low Orbit Ion Cannon'; or 'LOIC' (see, Arthur, C. 2010). These different ways of collaborating online show that while "the social, political and technological environment has developed, some have already begun to explore new options, seizing new chances

Flash mobs have been around since 2003, the full power of their reach has not really been felt until a mix of social media like Facebook and Twitter came into effect to help to coordinate events and spread the word. A mix of this and viral video tools like Youtube help to spread the story worldwide in a very short time frame. The organisation of early flash mob performances used to rely on text messages to spread the message. However, these days the internet and social media have made the coordination and the spreading of the message much quicker and it allows for many more networking opportunities. Costs of performances and production are kept to a minimum, with no need to buy air time. An interesting side-effect of viral videos these days is that the video will most often be displayed on television for free anyway, doing away with the need to pay for advertising air time, and has given rise to television programs dedicated to flash mob tv in places like Germany (Flashmob.tv, 2011). Flashmob.tv, (2011). The Show. Retrieved from http://www.flashmob.tv/en/the_show.php

Reference Edwards, J.T., & Baker, C. (2010). A case study: Google collaboration applications as online course teaching tools. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(4), Retrieved April 3, 2011, from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no4/edwards_1210.htm

This article by Anne Nelson argues against the idea that Twitter was strongly influential in the recent uprisings in Egypt. She backs up her statement by pointing out that there "were well under 15,000 Egyptians tweeting, out of a population of more than 80 million" and that some of those may not have even been inside Egypt. Her figures were intimated from figures released by Social Media Intelligence company "Sysomos" (O'Dell 2011), who after analysing 52 million Twitter users, Found that only 14,642 identified their location as Egypt, Yemen or Tunisia (O'Dell 2011). The majority of these, however, were identified as originating in Egypt. O'Dell's article points out that even these numbers are suspect as it is likely that a percentage of Twitter users in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen do not provide location information in order to protect their identities (2011). Nelson also remarks on the ineffectiveness of other online tools, for instance a Crisis-mapping application named Ushahidi. While she admires the utility of Ushahida, Nelson is quick to point out that crisis maps, particularly those covering low grade problems are generally not sufficiently supported by volunteers willing to update them. Evgeny Morozov coined the term slacktivism "to describe feel-good online activism that has zero political or social impact. It gives those who participate in 'slacktivist' campaigns an illusion of having a meaningful impact on the world without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group" (Morozov 2009). Nelson clearly feels that the majority of online activism falls into this category. REFS: Morozov, E. (2009). The brave new world of slacktivism. Retrieved from: http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave_new_world_of_slacktivism O'Dell, J. (2011). How Egyptians Used Twitte

Anne Nelson's article comes to the conclusion that "the new digital technologies are powerful tools in moments of crisis, but they cannot substitute for sustained citizen activism". (Nelson, 2011) Nelson points out how "in Egypt, there has been a lot of emphasis on Twitter, but the data suggests that there were well under 15,000 Egyptians tweeting, out of a population of more than 80 million". Nelson also makes reference to "slactivism" "where it's easier to click a "like" button on Facebook than it is to participate in a crisis-mapping platform." , and brings up a "notion of citizenship that involves more than one-click participation". I think that Nelson is missing the point here. Egypt may have been labelled the "Twitter Revolution" and the "Facebook Revolution" by the media, but this was not because of citizens and a "one-click participation", instead social media was used very successfully to mobilize citizens, who then faced real dangers when they took their protests to the streets. As Howard (2011) points out, there are dangers in both "overemphasizing and ignoring the role of digital media in political change in Egypt and Tunisia". While Nelson may not have ignored the role of digital media in Egypt, I think she has certainly under-emphasized it in this particular article. REFERENCES: Howard, P (February 23, 2011) The Cascading Effects of the Arab Spring Miller McCune Magazine Retrieved April 13, 2011 from http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ Nelson, A. (2011). The limits of the 'Twitter revolution. The Guardian Retrieved April 14 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/24/digital-media-egypt

I agree Sheila, many of these articles seem to be missing the point, there seems to be a real criticism towards the effects that social media has had on the protests in Egypt. I keep hearing statements like "Social media is not a substitute for individual action" (Nelson, 2011). Many of these articles seem to be coming to the conclusion that social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are seen as taking the sole responsibility for the events that have been played out in recent months. I have not seen one pro Twitter article that has put the credit directly in the hands of social network platfroms. Many articles in favor of social media state that they do not give absolute credit to Twitter or Facebook in the successfulness of the protests. For example (Morozov, 2009) states that social media does not take credit for all the peoples contribution and determination to be involved in the protests but it still is an extremely useful tool for the collaboration and organization of people on such a large scale, playing an important role in facilitating these protests. Social media is a very successful collaboration tool that is used in conjunction with society to gain results. Social media did play an extremely vital part in the organization and efficiency of these protests that cannot be denied. But it was individual action and determination that aided these people to contribute and gain results. Perhaps it should not be called a "Twitter Revolution", as this is where I think criticism and confusion has come about, the headline does place a biased opinion in favor of Twitter. Regardless of the attitudes towards social medias role in these events, its effectiveness in these matters has shocked the world and demonstrated how powerful it is as a communicative tool.

[Part 1] Digital Dialogue? Australian Politicians' use of the Social Network Tool Twitter This article, published in the Australian Journal of Political Science, reports the results of a study undertaken in 2010 that quantitatively analysed how Twitter is used by Australian politicians. The main aim of the study was to analyse the online engagement between politicians and the Australian public. While Twitter use in Australia is relatively small, Australian politicians, like many of their global counterparts have begun to embrace social media tools that offer them new ways to connect, influence and engage with their constituents. The study found that Twitter users are more likely than users of Facebook to make their profiles and posts public, in fact 79% of the users sampled had public "tweets". Amongst the sample chosen for the study 145 out of the 152 Australian politicians on Twitter had public accounts. A study conducted by Jim Macnamara in 2007, found that Australian politicians are generally "quite resistant to conversational social media", that their websites generally use the broadcast model and that their blogs usually have comments turned off. Even with Twitter, it seems that a large proportion of Tweets from politicians are broadcasting information rather than engaging in political discourse. Twitter, like other social networking tools, bypasses "the heavily mediated connections offered by traditional media" (p. 579) and provides the potential for communication beyond the traditional broadcasting of information, including a forum for minor political parties.

the Avaaz organisation become more globally recognised, thus further empowering the abilities of itself and the people. References: Avaaz. (2011). Avaaz.org on Twitter. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/avaaz Avaaz.org. (2011a).The World in Action Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en/about.php Avaaz.org. (2011b). Avaaz on Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/Avaaz?sk=wall AvaazOrg. (2011). Avaaz.org - The World In Action. YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/user/AvaazOrg Jenkins, H., Li, X., Krauskopf, A. & Green, J. (2009). If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead (Part Three): The Gift Economy and Commodity Culture. Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/2009/02/if_it_doesnt_spread_its_dead_p_2.html

[This article is in two parts due to Diigo restrictions on length] Thanks for your article Jocelyn. I had actually never heard about AVAAZ until I followed your link to AVAAZ Facebook and read your comment. I also Googled "AVAAZ" and got this link: http://avaaz.org/en/ followed some of the stories, got to know about the organization...and signed up! It is amazing what the power of social media can achieve isn't it? What impressed me the most was that AVAAZ has found just about every global campaign worth petitioning for from cleaner suburban/city air to wikileaks, ending pokies addiction, awareness about corruption in Indian politics, saving the Grand Canyon from Uranium Mining and more. As one member on the AVAAZ Home page said: "There are people all over the world who feel the same way I do, and while individually we may not all have the time and resources to fight every fight that needs our attention, collectively, we have power." -Charlotte Sachs, Canada Avaaz member So the main idea of AVAAZ appears to be collaborating with other like-minded people to help make our Global world a safer, more enduring and happier place by making a stand and publicizing significant issues of Global concern. Your article has highlighted their attempt at Global collaboration via social networking sites but the question for me is, if I had not read your article, navigated to their Facebook site and Googled "AVAAZ" for further information, I would never have known. AVAAZ needs to spread their good works with decent news/radio/other publicity in addition to social networking, so their Global issues attain the attention and are hopefully addressed in a beneficial way. [Please navigate to the next comment]

Burcher, N. (2009, November 18). Flash mob evolution - even Microsoft stores are trying them now [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.nickburcher.com/2009/11/flash-mob-evolution-even-microsoft.html Hewitt, G.(2003). Flash Mobs - A New Social Phenomenon. Retrieved from http://www.rense.com/general39/flashnmob.htm jonjonbaker. (2009, January 16). T-Mobile Advert "Life For Sharing". Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flash+mob&aq=0 Oxford University Press. (Ed.) (2011) Oxford Dictionary. Thomas, C. (2010, November 4). T-Mobile and the flash mob marketing phenomenonThe Ethical Nag: Marketing for the Easily Swayed [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://ethicalnag.org/2010/11/04/flash-mob/

Thanks you for sharing Hans, having reviewed the link and your response there appears to be many similarities between flash mobs and social-media facilitated, political protests. Much like the advertisers and marketers who drive flash mob, brand campaigns through new media, political demonstration organisers can also utilise the same tools to coordinate group activities activities and create spreadability of their cause - or as Thomas labels it 'traction' (Thomas, 2010). Examples in Thomas' article mention the flash mob video footage was uploaded to the popular video sharing site YouTube where it could be watched by potentially millions of web viewers. However, what the article fails to expand on is the stacking and interlinking of other social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and Facebook. For instance, were other SNS used as a replacement of e-mail to recruit the flash mob participants? After the flash mob act was published on YouTube, what was the strategy to draw further attention to the video clip? Is the flash mob footage just one node in the brand campaigns overall web presence? The traction behind the 2011 Egypt revolution grew at exponential rates based on the stacking of social networking services and effective utilisation of network effects (Gustin, 2011). Demonstrators published events on Facebook, allowing organisers to gauge attendance. Invitations could also be issued and rapidly passed amongst social circles. The combination of footage being uploaded to YouTube and the millions of related conversations being published to Twitter clearly highlights the participatory culture of the web and its global reaching powers (Gustin, 2011). Gustin, S. (February 11, 2011). Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt's Revolutionary Firez: EPICENTER. Retrieved April 7, from http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/02/egypts-revolutionary-fire/ Thomas, C. (2010, November 4). T-Mobile and the flash mob marketing phenomenonThe Ethical

References: Heaney, F. (n.d). The Short Life of Flash Mobs. Stay Free! Retrieved from http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/24/flash-mobs-history.html Kaulingfreks, R., & Warren, S. (2010). SWARM: Flash Mobs, mobile clubbing and the city. Culture and Organization, 16(3), 211 - 227. doi:10.1080/14759551.2010.503498

[Please note: This comment is in two parts due to Diigo restrictions on length] Thanks so much for adding this link Alan. I was amazed at how social media was used in helping to organize protests against the repression of the Mubarak regime in Egypt recently, yet saddened by the fact that the Egyptian Government erased Egypt from Global connectivity by shutting down the Internet across Egypt (Kravets, 2011b). As Kravets (2011b) heard from one reporter "The Egyptian government's actions tonight essentially wiped their country from the global map." What was most interesting however was how Kravets (2011a) explained that only one quarter of the Egyptian population had access to the Internet. Most of their revolution was organized the old-fashioned way via word-of-mouth, pamphlet distribution and the spontaneous gatherings of people intent on making a stand against Mubarak and his dictatorship (2011a). However despite Kravets reporting that perhaps this revolution would have occurred whether there was social media activity or not, the fact that the Egyptian government blocked access to the Internet, means that the world outside Egypt may not know what is happening until after the event - and therefore it may be too late to send assistance of any form. More importantly for the rise of social media and protests, the blocking of Egyptian Internet by their government highlights the fact that the power inherent in Internet-related social media activities was recognized. [Please navigate to the next comment]

[Continued from previous comment] In terms of my chosen topic of Flash Mobs, much of what occurs in public view is usually the result of months of planning, organizing and collaborating via emails and social media networks. If a Flash Mob is organized without Internet usage (both before and after the event), the impact would not be as great and therefore the issue highlighted by that activity would not have the desired global impact. The curious thing about Flash Mobs however is that they are usually organized without a cause and as such are simply a way to create a spectacle in an urban space (Molnar, 2009). Social media definitely assisted the people revolution in Egypt earlier this year, but until more of their population can gain access, organizational tools will be relying on the more traditional methods of leaflet distribution and gathering crowds street-by-street. Thanks again for sharing this article Alan - it definitely broadened my insular world and I look forward to reading about more current events regarding Egypt now that I have this background information. REFERENCES Kravets, D. (2011a). What's Fueling Mideast Protests? It's More Than Twitter. Published by Wired January 27, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011 from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/social-media-oppression/ Kravets, D. (2011b). Internet Down in Egypt, Tens of Thousands Protest in 'Friday of Wrath.' Published by Wired January 27, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011 from: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/egypt-internet-down/ Molnar, V. (2009). Reframing Public Space: Flash Mobs and the Futility of Contemporary Urban Youth Culture. Retrieved April 12, 2

I found Kravet's article interesting, particularly as I have been focusing on civil unrest and protests in Europe and the Middle East myself. Kravet acknowledged the link between technology and modern upheavals by using the example of the fax machine and the role it played informing the world of the Tiananmen Square massacre. In the last two hundred years technology has continued to facilitate communication - we have gone from print media to telephone, radio, television, and now of course computer technology, making the dissemination of information easier and more widespread. There is no doubt that social media is an effective tool in mobilizing and engaging citizens, but as Kravet says it is more than Twitter fuelling the Middle East protests. Peter Dahlgren, in Van de Donk et als "Cyberprotest: new media, citizens and social movements" (2004), summarised the role of the internet in the political arena. He said "we should avoid becoming obsessed with just the communication technology itself...we need to include in our analytical horizons the complex ways in which ICT's interplay with the dynamics of social movements, as well as with mainstream political structures and contemporary cultural trends that frame these movements" (Dahlgren, in 2004Van de Donk et al, p.xv) Thanks for sharing this article Alan. I can only imagine the wealth of scholarly articles and research that will be published in the next few years on the use of social media in political protests, its certainly an interesting topic to research. REFERENCES: Kravets, D. (2011). What's Fueling Mideast Protests? It's More Than Twitter. Published by Wired January 27, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2011 from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/social-media-oppression/ Van de Donk, W., Loader, B. Nixon, P. And Rucht, D. (eds). (2004) Cyberprotest: n