Social networking has been a major player in this crisis, and continues to be

One of my friends, who never really saw the point of things such as Facebook and Twitter, admitted the other day that he had no idea that they could help topple governments. So far the Aegyptian leader still seems to be in place, but that could change. In the meantime, Internet and even cell phone use have been cut off by the government. For those who can get to a regular phone, there is some help for trying to get messages of what is going on to loved ones and to the world, also using the social networking tool Twitter:


Techies make way for stranded Egyptians to be heard

For those stuck in Egypt without the Internet, Google, Twitter and SayNow have teamed up to create an innovative voicemail system: Call a number and leave a message, and the system blasts it out into the universe in the form of a tweet with the hashtag #egypt.

Links in the tweets go to the actual voicemail, and volunteers are translating the tweets.

I hope that this can end peacefully and that it will not usher in some ultra-conservative religious party in a grab for power. I'm also keeping a co-worker in my thoughts--she is from Iraq but some of her family went to Aegypt looking for stability, so I'm sure this is tense time for her.