Speak2tweet Gives Hope to Egyptian People

by admin

As the Egyptian Government is doing everything possible to quiet the desires and voices of Egyptian protesters, America has followed the unfolding wondering what we can do to help.  Just last week, Google invented a way to give the voices back to the Egyptian people and to allow them to connect with the rest of the world despite their government’s restrictions.  Using Twitter, the Egyptian people can post voice-tweets about the protests and their safety using their simple dial-in service.

Speak2tweet provides three international phone numbers that Egyptians may call to leave their voice notes.  By calling +16504194196, +390662207294, or +97316199855, anyone can leave a voice mail that will be linked directly to a tweet with the hashtag #egypt.   People may also listen to other voice-tweets by dialing those numbers.  No internet connection is needed, as the Egyptian Government blocked all internet connection within the country to prevent personal interactions between countries and citizens. Egyptian tweeter Ahmed Shalaby posted Jan 27^th, “FYI | We don’t have SMS, Fb, twitter, very very slow internet connection Till Now! & the worst is coming soon #jan25 #egypt”, and he was right.  The Egyptian Government quickly shut down landlines and mobile networks, cutting out almost all forms of communication.

In just one week, over three thousand tweets have been posted on
Speak2tweet.  The site has acquired over ten thousand followers.  Google hopes that the site will help reunite the Egyptian people in their struggle for reform.  As stated in Google’s blog, “We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.”

Despite the Egyptian Government’s desire to tear down interactions between protesters and the rest of the world, Google has found a way to bring hope back to the people by connecting them once again.

admin