Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life . Sign up, it’s free and anyone can join, reads the homepage of the popular social networking website. Little did its founder Mark Zuckerberg know about the momentum his website would gain in Egypt.
What started out as a forum for people to catch up with old friends, upload and share photos, exchange messages and videos and kill many hours of boredom, whether at home or in the workplace, took a new turn in 2008, particularly on Sunday April 6.
Like any Facebook user, Esraa Abdel Fattah decided to create a group for a cause she believed in, supporting the Ghazl El-Mahalla workers striking on April 6.
The group April 6: A General Strike for the People of Egypt turned into an online campaign calling on all Egyptians not to go to work or buy anything on that day to protest inflation, specifically the rise in food prices, corruption and the overall social injustice in the country. More than 73,000 people joined the group.
“The April 6 Strike group is a [strong] illustration of the power of Facebook and shows the power of spreading the word among a certain group that is willing to listen, said Rasha Abdullah, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo.
She explains that Facebook users are usually young and enthusiastic about the causes they choose. They have a large array of choices, with each topic, whether art, fashion, business or politics having hundreds, if not thousands of groups under its name.
“Clicking [to join the group] is the first step in choosing one from thousands and it shows on their homepage to all their friends, so that implies a certain level of commitment to this cause, Abdullah said.
Internet activists who publicized the strike then – known as “Shebab El-Facebook – were talked about everywhere and people were warned against participating in the strike.
Abdel Fattah, known now as the “Facebook Girl, was arrested that day on charges of inciting to strike. She remained in custody for more than two weeks until Interior Minister Habib El-Adly issued a special release order.
When Amr Adib, host of “Al-Qahira Al-Youm, asked her whether she will go on Facebook when she gets home, Abdel Fattah replied in measured words, “I don’t think so.
The detention of Abdel Fattah had created a media frenzy and charged public opinion against the government.
“Releasing Esraa is a move in the right direction; her detention was sending out a message to the youth warning them that if they express their opinions they will be at risk of being arrested, Hassan Abou Taleb, a researcher at Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, said.
“It’s illogical to monitor the internet, because we are living in the internet era and if they do that then they will be following old policies that can never be applicable in today’s world, he added.
Another group administrator, Ahmed Maher, who used Facebook to support calls for the May 4 general strike was kidnapped while driving his car in a Cairo suburb before allegedly being beaten intermittently by State Security Investigations for 12 hours.
He was eventually released without charge. He told Human Rights Watch that his assailants asked for the password of the Facebook group and questioned him about members of the group he had never met.
April 6 was a turning point in how Egyptians viewed Facebook. Many claim that the government and authorities feel threatened by the website and intend to block it from Egypt like in Syria and Iran. Key media figures, such as Mona El Shazly and Amr Adib, started taking the subjects discussed on Facebook seriously and addressed them in their shows.
Newspapers kept an eye on the website, reporting about the groups that attract hundreds and thousands of members.
The users of Facebook have turned the popular entertainment website into a platform for political activism and promoting social change on different levels.
Within 24 hours of the defining moment of 2008 when Iraqi journalist Muntazar Al-Zaidi hurled his pair of shoes at the US president, almost 300 groups were created to support the instant Arab hero who expressed the Arab people s anger at the American invasion of Iraq.
On the radical side, two Facebook groups were created earlier this summer calling for people to boycott Adel Imam’s new movie “Hassan and Morqos in which the veteran comedian plays the role of a Coptic priest.
“A call for all Muslims: boycott the Christian Adel Imam is the name of one of the groups which attracted 53 members.
The group accused Imam of promoting apostasy in his latest movie as well as advocating other sins such as drinking alcohol and prostitution, therefore everyone should boycott his movies and plays, said Akram Bahader, the group’s creator.
There are other groups that call for social change, for example the popular group “Awanis men Agl El Taghier (Old Maids for Change) which has attracted wide media attention for bringing into the limelight the stigma of being an unmarried woman in a patriarchal society.
The group was created by Yomna Mokhtar, a 27-year-old journalist who was inspired by the suffering of her unwed friends and colleagues.
The group identifies itself as “a social movement that seeks to reverse the negative attitude towards every unmarried girl who eventually found herself forced to either get married to any man so she could get rid of the title ‘old maid,’ or hold onto her position, insisting to wait until she finds the right guy. … We are not calling on girls to boycott marriage but we refuse the idea that girls get married under pressures from their families or the society or just to get rid of the title ‘old maid,’ reads the group’s mission statement.
And there were groups created to comment on current trends in Egypt. For example, there is a group criticizing the advertising campaign for Birell which encourages men to drink a non-alcoholic beer to “be a man by using what many describe as sexist innuendos.
“Aside from the provocative nature of the ad, and its denigration of everyone who doesn’t drink Birrel as un-masculine, its most dangerous aspect is its association of a drink or product with confidence, the group says on Facebook.
“This makes young people think, ‘if a malt drink gives us all this confidence then alcoholic drinks, marijuana and chemical drugs will give us even more confidence for sure.’
Other groups have become the media outlet for political parties, art galleries and business ventures. Group members receive regular messages informing them with the latest product releases, available trainings and workshops, and upcoming events.
But were these the uses Zuckerberg had in mind for Facebook when he created it?
“People use everything differently depending on the society’s needs, said Abdullah. “We are a repressed country, there are no forums for civic participation so people jump at any opportunity to speak their mind and voice their opinion, she explained.
“On the other hand, in the States people are being heard and the average citizen has a correct feeling that they can create a change if they speak out, she added.
