I just wanted to share this (already known I’m sure) tip with you: GET ON TWITTER!
Though most people tend to use Twitter as a means to update other friends on social, personal events, etc., it has proved to be a savior in the case of James Buck, and in general it’s been popular for a while (say for the past couple of years) among Egyptian activists, for political mobilization and spreading news. It is one I strongly recommend for IST bloggers around the world.
During the Mahalla Sept ’07 strike and Apr ’08 uprising, in addition to downtown Cairo demos, Twitter was widely used by the Egyptian activists to disseminate information about the demonstrations or arrests. You can also install a simple plug in and your tweets will be posted automatically on your blog (Please look at the right side bar of my blog, under “3arabawy on Twitter”). This means you can blog while you are at demonstrations in the streets, provide continuous updates, as well as alarm your comrades about police moves, arrests, minute by minute. I also recommend that comrades in Egypt have a ready-typed text in the “drafts” of your mobile phones messaging menu saying something like: “State Security is at my house” ready to be sent out right away to your twitter page. And just click “send” as soon as the SS pigs show up at your doorstep, to quickly alert your comrades as well as the world that you are getting arrested. There are all sorts of other tips and applications Twitter can make your blogging life easier with, so I recommend you check Twitter Blog for more info.
Make sure you also add your website link to your profile on your Twitter homepage, as a way to increase the internet traffic to your blog. Once you get a Twitter account and install it on your blog, add me to your network of contacts and I’ll add you back. This way we can exchange information much faster.
