[lbo-talk] The role of social media in the Egyptian uprising

[Eric Beck]

"The emancipatory potential of the internet does not mean that
Facebook, Google, and Twitter are the main weapons of the 21st century
democratic rebellions, as the media often simplistically claims. These
are important channels, crucial at points, for the dissemination of
resonances produced in the streets by bodies that for the most part do
not tweet. The main weapon of democratic, non-violent rebellions still
is, and will always be, bodies in the streets producing resonance. And
the trends of global unrest that preceded Egypt seem to indicate we
are entering a wave of transcontinental anti-elite resonances that are
encountering receptive bodies across disparate geographies. This wave
began in Europe in 2010, is spreading like wildfire into North Africa
and the Middle-East, and is now ricocheting back into Europe, as
illustrated by the protests and potential court actions for human
rights violations that have just forced George W. Bush to cancel a
trip to Switzerland."

http://spaceandpolitics.blogspot.com/2011/02/resonance-and-egyptian-revolution.html