Thousands of website are expected to go dark or alter their appearance on Wednesday to protest proposed U.S. anti-piracy legislation, that many believe goes too far fighting online copyright and trademark infringement.

Take Action to Stop SOPA and PIPA

Wired did a great job of summarizing the issue and the potential impact it will have on our world. Here is a quick shot of what they said:

“The bills give the Justice Department the power to seek court orders requiring search engines like Google not to render search results for infringing websites. (The proposals are vague and broad when it comes to defining an infringing site.)

The bills also allow the Justice Department to order internet service providers like Comcast and AT&T to block their users from visiting blacklisted sites. That would be unprecedented in the United States, though it’s a common tactic used in countries like Syria, Iran and China to clamp down on political dissent and adult content.

The SOPA proposal bars the distribution of tools and services designed to get around such blacklists. The ban could arguably cover tools such as VPNs and Tor used by human rights groups, government officials and businesses to protect their communications and evade online spying and filtering.

The proposals grant rights holders the ability to demand that judges order ad networks and financial institutions to refrain from doing business with sites right holders say are infringing.

The measures also give out legal immunity to ad networks and financial institutions that choose, without a court order, to stop placing ads or processing transactions for websites they deem are dedicated to infringing activity.

Copyright holders would face little penalty for filing takedown claims without doing due diligence or considering “fair use,” encouraging even more abuse of copyright takedown lawsuits”  Wired Magazine, Jan 18, 2012

Read the rest of the article here and follow up the status of defending the internet.

You can sign the petition here if you haven’t already, and contact your legislators here.

This is a Social Media Eco System model for B2B

In this model, every possible interaction is set up to drive the customer back to your website. The  main social media tools (YouTube, LinkedIn, Slideshare) are used to position your organization as thought-leader in your industry in addition to improving your SEO. Facebook here is used as means to share your organization’s culture with potential candidates.

Can social media really help you go from “WTF is Facebook Page?” to “Revenue exceeds company’s expectations.”?

Image by Anne Hemond

The Dachis Group held their 2nd annual Social Business Summit 2011 here in Austin, TX. The speakers are leaders from different industries and they openly shared their tried and true experiences in social business strategies. It was one of the best conferences I have attended in a while.

Here is some of their shared wisdom:

1- JP Rangaswami, Salesforce.com: Chief Scientist
– Business is inherently social, yet in the last 50 years, we have somehow engineered the social out of business.
- Technology is changing the enterprise. There is less friction between people and more social interaction.
- Change is good or bad depending on the context it occurs. The change in technology is shifting everyday paradigms. Today’s 3 year old expects to touch the screen and drive the experience.
- We will go from accepting process as standards to see process as a pattern, then allow the change to occur.
- We are moving away from fear to sharing, mentoring, collaboration. The idea that we can now store failure as future proofing is very important.
- Now we can make new mistakes, and today’s failures will become tomorrows innovation.
- We’re approaching an age of associating work with pleasure at the enterprise

2- Dave Gray, XPLANE: Founder, Co-Author of Gamestorming.
- Life expectancy of a S&P 500 company is 10-15 years, and profit per employee drops by half as company grows by 3times
Next he talked about The connected company, he said:
-  In reality we design machines for repeatability and predictability. However people are unpredictable. So you can’t run company as you run a machine
- There is a similarity between urban design and organizational design. Both companies and cities are made of people. So take lessons from Urban Design.
- Start from bottom up (1 wide street with lots of people), with many cross functionality for scalability, and finally you must have ownership for projects, each with a private place to work and a public face to interact.
- Long lived companies have 3 things in common: decentralized their systems, strong identity and culture and active listeners in their environment
- The future of organizations is moving away from territorial style to a flatter and more connected in order to succeed and survive.

3- Phil J. Kaplan: Internet Entrepreneur and co-founder of Blippy
- 2 years ago many people thought Facebook was “Creepy”, and privacy was a concern. Today Facebook has over 500million members, and some still are concerned about privacy, but not that many looking at the numbers.
- People are always suspicious and scared of something new. Yet people will share their private life if you give them the means and the reasons.
- Because people in the past didn’t have ways to publicly share their lives, they freak out now about sharing online. Young people on the other hand, it is all they know. So it is no big deal to them.
- To create an online presence, find out what you have that people could use and need, then offer it. People will jump on it.

4- Rawn Shah, IBM- Rewiring Mega mind
– You need to understand the nature of friction to understand the value of innovation
-  Currently 140K of IBM 400K employees are remote. Trust is essential to encourage people to share their information and contribute to internal interaction
- IBM uses itself as case study to demonstrate the benefits of social tools internally and with their customers
- Managing social tools is different between small company and big company. Culture is another consideration to take into account when deploying social tools.

5- Josh Bernoff, Forrester, and author of Empowered
–  It is no longer just social technologies; there is mobile platform, cloud computing and video accessibility.
-  Empowering your employee is like creating a hero (Amen!!!)
-  Online social participation continues to grow. In 2007 18% were creators, 48% spectators and  44% untouched by social. In 2010, 23% creators, 68% spectators and 19% inactive
-  Social networks contribute to 500B impressions, 25% of that number is impressions from ad dollars
-  People on mobile web far more likely to spread influence impressions than non-mobile customers
-  It’s more important to get people to culturally embrace social collaboration than to embrace the systems you will use
-  Think IDEA: Identify mass influences; Deliver groundswell customer service; Empower mobile information; Amplify fan activities
- Ways to create heroes in your organization:Empower employees with technology freedom; Encourage experiments; Commit to collaborative system culturally and use counsels to spread best practices.

6- John Hagel III, Deloitte & Author of The Power of Pull
-  It used to be that the harder you work, the less you get back in return until you jump into the next stage. Now you can make big changes by learning to share
-  The changes are not about social or technology, it is about organizational change
-  Deploying social tools will succeed with metrics that matter to different groups within the organization
-  The value of social software is in helping define, connect and support solving problems, for diverse groups
-  It is only when you measure against metrics that you will see the success or the failure of your social initiatives
-  Massive organization change rarely succeeds. Small moves smartly made set big changes in motion
-  To make changes, it is best to start at the edge of the organization. The core of the businesses has antibodies that are effective at resisting change. So when you succeed at the edge, start scaling to make it the new core.
- There is very little passion left in big organizations. You need to find the passionate people and connect them to new social initiatives.

7- Michael Gold, Founder and President of Jazz Impact
– To find innovation, we need to be in the liminal zone. It is the space between what you know and what you don’t know. It is the zone of possibilities
- Business is like Jazz. There are are base cords and notes, but on top of that there infinite possibilities for improvision and creativity.

8- Shiv Shingh, PepsiCo Beverages & author of Social Media Marketing for Dummies
- The future of Marketing is Real-Time Marketing
- Social Media is fundamentally changing organizations
- There are 90M tweets per day to show you trends
-  To go from insights to execution in seconds requires new ways of thinking and acting
Real-time marketing = Insight into the customer trend + ability to respond +  creating relevant content + co-creation and distribution + customer engagement…ALL in Real Time

9-Jesse Thomas, CEO and Founder of Jess3
- Use the data to show the story
- Data visualization and symbolism have always been part of storytelling
- When designing infographics, it is best to design style and content in parallel, because serial processing misses opportunities

10- Lee Bryant, Headshift | Dachis Group, Managing Director, Europe
– The change for social business needs to be deeper, more structural – it is Not about humanizing old companies as if putting lipstick on a pig
-  Don’t limit employee conversations. Real leaders thrive in open culture and feedback
-  Move beyond carrot and stick thinking to connect with peoples’ intrinsic motivation and sense of purpose
-  It is a myth that flat structures don’t need leaders, real leaders not managers, have persuasive quality
-  Harness the power of open data to evolve and better understand
-  Follow objectives not instructions
-  Ecosystems + passion + active listening = enterprise transformation
-  Use the Wiki way: Managers only intervene when there is a problem

11- Tony Hsieh (Zappos) and Jenn Lim (Delivering Happiness)
– If you don’t pay attention to your company culture, it may become something you dread
- Zappos is in the business of delivering exceptional customer service and they just happen to sell shoes. The power of WOW!
- Your culture is your brand
- People are really bad in predicting what is going to make them happy
- Instead of a high tech approach, try to go for a high touch approach

Great event. Thank you Dachis Group.

Have you ever been annoyed by the ads on TV, on your mobile app or on a post that you are trying to read? What about being been approach by someone trying to sell you something that you have no interest in? Don’t you wish they would just disappear?

Stop screaming- Photo by Ernst Vikne

If yes, then you understand how your customer feels when you are uninvitedly approached them to sell your products. They wish that the earth would open up and swallow you whole. Not a good response from a potential buyer.

Social media is often confused as a venue to directly sell stuff to the customers, like TV or billboard advertisement. However social media is not about selling, advertising, collecting fans or even getting your name out. They all by-products of your success in social media, but shouldn’t be the initial goal.

The purpose of social media is to engage the customer over the lifetime of the brand.

Let’s start by clarifying the meaning of “engaging the customer”. It means you are eliciting some kind of response, followed by an action. All responses start by an emotion; let’s categorize them into good, bad or indifferent emotions.   Then emotions are usually followed by a physical action; let’s say responding to your post, forwarding your post or deleting the post.

A successful Social media campaign will elicit a good response followed by the action of responding or forwarding the post. Anything else is considered a failure. Sure you could a bad response if the customer posts a nasty message on your site, but it is also an opportunity to connect with and educate that customer.  An indifferent response, on the other hand, is considered the worst kind social media; simply because the potential customer will consider you not worth their time and delete you forever.

Think of social media campaign as a love story.

First you meet, then you date and you fall in love and finally you get married to live happily ever after. So quit screaming at people and learn to build a loving and lasting relationship.

The purpose of social media is to engage the customer. Not sell, not advertise, not collect fans and not getting your name out. They all by-products of your success in social media, but should not be the goal.

I can hear a  “Duh!”. But really before you jump on your high horse, go review your last 10 posts.

Engaging means you are eliciting some kind of response. It could be an emotional response like crying or laughter, or it could be physical response where they write back or chug you in the trash (Delete/Spam) never to give you a second chance.

If you are aiming for the physical response, you would ask questions, run contests, provide educational information or training. Your statements should be factual and based on data.

If you go for the emotional response, then you are telling a story or painting a mental image. It should touch their heart. Have you ever seen or read the ASPCA stories about the boy saving his best friend or the dog that killed the tiger to save the boy? You can never read those without feeling that tug in your heart. What about the Old spice ads? They are so ridiculously funny. They went viral within months. People love to share a laugh.

Earlier I said that engagement should be your only goal. The reason I say that is because anytime you write something with the goal of sales or advertisement, it shows in your words and your customer will feel it and will snob you.  People go into social media because they are looking for personal connection. They don’t want to be talk at (like TV ads) instead they want to have a conversation, be heard, feel cared for, looked after, loved etc…you get the point.

So before you post something to your social media tools you ask yourself two questions:
1- What reactions will this elicit from my audience?
2- What am I selling or advertising here?

If the answer to # 1 is a good emotional or physical reaction, then hit publish.
If the answer to # 2 is A and B/C, then erase and start over.

I wrote this research paper for Human Resources class in my Digital Media MBA program. It explores the impact of social media on organizations. It is written in academic format (APA style with references at the end).  While it is long and dry, I believe it sheds some light on the confusion facing today’s organizations in response to social networking.

Abstract

This paper will discuss the impact of social media on today’s organizations. It will start by understanding the changes in organizations from the industrial age to the digital age. Then it will explore companies reactions to the rapid changes in technology and the popularity of social media tools. While many organizations often think that social media influences communication and relationships outside of the enterprise firewall,  recent data and studies have shown that organizations are affected by social media in all aspects of their structure and culture. Examples of social media impact on various types of organization’s will be presented. Finally problems and possible solutions  to integrating social media in today’s organizations will be discussed.

Social Media impact on organizations

Organizations have mostly been structured based on their customers’ needs, the legal and political constraints of their country, and the economic and technological changes impacting their environment. When social media was first introduced, organizations often thought of it as means to connect with the customers and market their product. They did not however expect the tremendous impact that it would have on their own internal structure.

In a modern day organization’s behavior, employees and suppliers have as much impact on the organization structure as customers and competitors have had in the past. This was not always the case. Classic organization theory has evolved in the early 20th century to merge scientific management theory developed by Fredrick Taylor (1917), bureaucratic theory by Max Weber (1947) and administrative theory by Mooney and Reiley (1931). The main focus was on the organization goals and the methods for management to maintain equilibrium through control and manipulation of the workers and their environment. While it was initially successful at improving production in the industrial age, its shortcomings were apparent in explaining people’s motivation and behavior to work only as function of economic reward.

Then in the mid 1960s, contingency theory was developed to address the failure of classic organization that was becoming more apparent in volatile industries. Contingency theorists view conflict as unavoidable, but manageable. According to Chandler (1962) who studied four large United States corporations, organizations would act in a rational, sequential, and linear manner to adapt to changes in the environment. Effectiveness was a function of management’s ability to adapt to environmental changes.

It wasn’t until the recent studies by Kast and Rosenzweig (1972) and W.R.Scott (1981), that used systems theory as means to explain that all the components of an organization are interrelated, and that changing one variable might impact many others. Organizations are viewed as open systems, continually interacting with their environment and in dynamic state of temporary equilibrium as they adapt to environmental changes.

While studies may have shown that successful organizations are in constant state of flux in response to their environment, many companies are still looking at social media technologies as way to market their product and learn about their competitors. They consider them separate from the company’s culture and structure, existing outside the company’s firewall. This is understandable for social media technologies started in 2000 as means to connect family and friends or individuals to virtual coaches. Organizations on the other hand were removed from such interaction. It wasn’t until the launch of Twitter in 2006, that companies started to consider using social media technologies to engage their customers (Online Schools, 2010).

Social media technologies have drastically reduced the cost of content creation, distribution and discovery methods. Organizations and individuals are able to create an online presence easily and economically. This presence could produce a large following depending on the interest in the content created and information shared. An online community is the dream of every business in the social media arena given its relatively low cost and instantaneous customer access.

In 2008, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs, Wiki and Twitter, to name few social media platforms, have become popular tools with corporate marketing teams to spread the word about the products and services. The traditional word of mouth marketing has become “word of mouse”, a digital marketing term used to describe promoting products or services virally through the web. Companies realized that social media is a powerful medium that is changing the way the world communicates. Its power stems from crowd-sourced communities that allow the instant sharing of information between people with related interests. However many organizations are often shocked by the impact of online communities on their internal organization structure.

The change stemmed from the speed at which information travel in the social media arena. In most cases, the information environment outside the organization is changing far more rapidly than the information environment internally. Customers, partners, prospects, and employees can find, access, and share information in a way that corporate infrastructure, security, culture, and policies inhibit. Organizations are having a hard time keeping up with – never mind responding to or taking advantage of – these new environments.

The path of information regarding the organization is no longer just the role of the marketing department. Employees are online talking to customers, colleagues, and suppliers who have become friends through various social networks. They are sharing their experiences, impressions and expectations regarding their jobs, the organization and management. The speed at which the information travels is beyond the control of the organization. Every employee, customer and supplier has become a reflection on how the organization functions and operates. The power has shifted from what the company wants to relay to the public, to what employees, customers and suppliers say about the company—for better or worse.

This transfer of power has affected organizations tremendously on all levels. Early adapters of social media have accepted the power shift and harnessed the influence of social media to their advantage. Southwest Airlines is a great example of an organization that empowers its employees and respond to customers’ complaints and comments through social media. In 2010, a Southwest airline pilot requested an overweight passenger to de-embark the plane due to the company’s “one seat” policy. Little did he know that the passenger was a famous writer, actor and director with millions of followers. Mr. Kevin Smith, the passenger, took to social media to express his anger. It was within 8 hours that SWA responded to him and every one of his followers comment regarding the incident, apologizing and explaining their policies. What SWA demonstrated is an organization that engages with its customers and doesn’t shy away during conflict in fear of tarnishing its reputation. Instead it takes pride in its transparent policies and admits to its mistakes, earning respect from customers and employees (Silverstein, 2010).

Transparency is one of the main consequences of engaging in social media. Organizations can no longer decide what information to share or not to share with the public; in most cases this information has already found its way out through the employees, the customers or the suppliers. The advantage of going viral and the speed at which information travel in social media, are also the reasons many companies can no longer be “two faced”. Successes and failures are reported within the brand’s community and broadcasted virally within days if not hours. The good news is that organizations are forced to address their problems with a plan of correction, otherwise they will risk losing their customers and reputation in their industry.

As leaders and managers are learning the impact of social media on their organization, so are employees learning the impact it has on their jobs. In 2009, 8% of employees were fired because of inappropriate comments they placed on social media platforms (Mashable, 2009). Employees are still learning that they are an integral part of the organization and what they say or do outside of their work; still reflect on their organization as the case of Octavia Nasr, CNN reporter expressing her sadness for death of a man, whom she respected but was considered a part of a terrorist organization by her company (Greenwald, 2010).

The social media impact is not only seen in the corporate world, but also in the political arena. It is thanks in part to social media that a junior US Senator from Illinois has become the 44^th president of the United States in 2008. Mr. Barak Obama’s support came from everywhere and mostly the unexpected places of social media that his rivals didn’t even consider tapping into (Qualman, 2009). On the other side of the planet and in 2011, Hosni Mubarak, The Egyptian President of 30 years, was ousted after 18 days of public demonstrations that started as an organized event on Facebook. While Egyptians used social media to call for a political regime change, Iceland used it to attract thousands of people globally and increase its tourism. Its approach was quite unique. In the campaign “Iceland Wants to Be Your Friend”, Iceland speaks to its followers in the first person, engaging them in a remarkable way. Today tourism in Iceland is the fastest growing industry and the second-highest earner in the country after exporting (Iceland Tourist Board, 2011).

It is due to these examples that organizations can no longer opt out of engaging in social media. Not only is the opportunity lost too great, but the competition is engaging the customer every chance they get. Some organizations might decide to delegate social media engagement to their marketing department as they block all social sites internally. This is a flawed decision because employees are still able to access them via their mobile devices.  Every employee has become the face of the organization and reflects its values. Also having a centralized authority system where management gets to control the engagement and the responses on the social platforms is very unrealistic arrangement due to the speed at which information travels.

It is without a doubt an adjustment for organizations and employees to understand how to navigate through social media. Many are struggling to understand the boundaries between personal and company’s social media tools. One of the main issues is the ownership of the content on the web. When an employees post on the company social sites, it could be considered company owned content. However it is not clear when employees post on their personal sites information pertaining to the company. The line blurs in terms of liability and ownership. Similarly when the company’s representative builds a following on the company’s site, it is not clear who has the ownership of such community, after all social media is about building and enhancing relationships.

Today’s technology and business environment are forcing organizations to restructure their processes and behavior. Social commerce is the new platform for doing business. Leadership and management need to embrace the change in order to succeed. New policies are needed to guide employees and management on social media best practices. Collaboration between departments is a must to harness the power of social media and to take advantage of the customer engagement. The best investment an organization could do is training the managers and the employees to respond in a timely manner to customer’s questions and inquiries. It is the only way to harness the power of social commerce and uncover opportunities to help the organization prosper in the digital era.

References

Chandler, A. D., Jr. 1962. Strategy and Structure. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.

Iceland Tourist Board. 2011. Travel and Tourism in Iceland
Retrieved from http://www.icelandexport.is/english/industry_sectors_in_iceland/travel_and_tourism_in_iceland/

Kast, F. E., and Rosenzweig, J. E. 1972. “General systems theory: Applications for organizations and management.” Academy of Management Journal. 15(4): 451.

Qualman, E. 2009. Socialnomics Page 68. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Mooney, J. D., and Reiley, A. C. 1931. Onward Industry. New York: Harper & Row.
Online Schools. 2010. Retrieved from http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/history-of-social-networking

Ostrow, A. August 10, 2009. .FACEBOOK FIRED: 8% of US Companies Have Sacked Social Media Miscreants. Mashable. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/social-media-misuse

Salon. July 8, 2010. Octavia Nasr’s firing and what The Liberal Media allows
Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/07/08/media/index.html

Scott, W. R. 1981. Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Silverstein, C. February 15, 2010. Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines: Social media case study
Retrieved from http://www.marketinghipster.com/2010/02/15/kevin-smith-and-southwest-airlines-a-social-media-case-study

Taylor, F. W. 1917. The Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper

Weber, M. 1947. The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations. Henderson, A. M., and Parsons, T. (trans.) New York: Oxford University Press.

What do you think when you think of salesman? Does the image of cheesy fake smile and pink suit flash in your mind?

How about you give me your money, and I give you big fat nothing

Have you heard the term “Closer” for a saleswoman?  If you haven’t, it means sending out a beautiful tall blond girl with big boobs to close the deal.

I personally find both very offensive, and sad that they hold similar titles as great marketers like Dale Carnegie or Seth Godin.

Remember when dad paid for your first concert, guess what? You sold him on send you there.  Or when you talked your boss into implementing the new process; you have sold him/her on the idea. A sales person is not the sleazy creepy person who suckered you into buying something you didn’t want.  It is the person who educated you on various ways to solve your problems.

The good sales people are passionate about their products. They listen to their customers to understand their problems. When time is right, they educate them and offer products that help solve these issues. And lastly they follow up to understand the experience and build a lasting relationship.

The good sales person knows that it is all about the customer experience during the engagement process, and you want that engagement process to last a lifetime. A good sales person builds a community, not just one time exchange.

This same practice transfers to the digital world. When you engage your customer online, you are building a community. It is dad and mom all over again, same experience different format.

As a digital sales person, aka social media community manager, you are also building a community to love you and buy your products.  Every interaction is an opportunity to educate your customers on why they should trust you and give you money. And when you mess up, don’t lie to them or ignore what happened. You apologize, explain the circumstances, and state how you will fix it moving forward.

Remember, everyone in your life is your customer.  So build your community based on empathy, trust and respect.

Now if I can just “sell” my dog on not chewing the pillows. I would truly be great saleswoman.

Yes! Actions speak louder than words, but don’t we also make decisions based on words ?

When I first heard Obama speak in Austin, I knew that I wanted him for president.  I cried as I listened to him paint a bright future for my country. I voted for him based on his words. OK! so being smart, handsome and well dressed helped a lot.

Obama Hope

Did I see him in action? No.  But I bought whatever he was selling based solely on his words.

Yesterday someone asked me if I am concerned that the Muslim Brotherhood might take over Egypt.  Interestingly the words “Muslim Brotherhood” conjured horrible images of burning buildings and people dying to my mind.  The fact that the words “Muslim Brotherhood” literaly translate to “Peaceful brothers” meant nothing.

So when is it that words weigh heavier than actions? and when actions speak louder than words?

Hmm….

At first, we listen to words. People will give you the benefit of the doubt. Your words/Elevator speech could help you finance your company, get you a first interview and/or  get you laid.

THEN comes the action part. Did you follow through with your promises? Did you deliver on time and as expected?

Today’s social media tools force companies and people to walk around with a wide open kimonos.

People will talk about you all over the web and on their mobile devices. Your mom, your boss and your dog will know that you landed that account as well as drank during your lunch break.

Everyone knows.....

In today’s world, everyone knows everything.

So…

Only make promises that you can keep. Under commit and over deliver is the key to customer delight.

Don’t lie to your customers because they will find out. Your actions will speak louder than your words.

Cairo: By Andrew Bakar

As of Egypt, I am not worried. Egyptians love their country too much to let it fall in the wrong hands. It will take them some time to find out who they are and the right path to take. But they will eventually get there.

People still ask about the ROI of social media. Really?!!! How about a revolution that boots a 30 year regime in a country of 80 million people. How about that for Return On Investment?!

Thanks to Robert Smith for image

Egypt like other places in the world had plenty of corruption and injustice. You saw it in the streets along with people’s smiles. As an Egyptian born that made USA her home, I have accepted them as part of Egypt along with its generosity and kindness. Sure I have seen and heard the blogs and vlogs calling for a stand against corruption. But never in million years I would have thought they would change Egypt from the great nation of 2011BC to a great nation in 2011AD.

Watching the revolution unfold from far was very… hard to describe, but it went on something like this:

Jan 25:
I hear of protests throughout Egypt against torture and corruption. According to the digital media they are the biggest yet, organized by sites like We are all Khaled Said and 6th of April Youth Movement. First thing you do when you live away from your family is call to check on their safety.
“Yes, we are all safe.  It is a peaceful protest. Everything will be back to normal tomorrow”,  mom says.
Relief fills me and I move on about my day. Then I check again few hours later.
“Shit!!! it is getting nasty” I think as I watch the tweets, livestream and FB comments. I call as soon as I get home to check on everyone’s safety again.
“Yes we are safe. We are watching what’s happening on the satellite and the net.  The national TV is useless. Oh! and earlier I had to literally sit on your little niece (24 years old computer engineer- Not so little) because she wants to join her friends in Tahrir Square”  her mom says with a relief.

Jan 25th- Men and Women in the streets

Day of Anger Jan 25th

Police uses tear gas on protesters

Now I’m glued to Al Jazeera (Broadcasting live from Egypt). I watch the protests as the police uses excessive force on the peaceful protesters. My heart aches for them. People are just asking for their basic human rights and the cops are just doing what they have been told to do. I finally go to sleep at 2am praying for a peaceful resolution the next day.

Jan 26:
“Shit! It is getting worse”, I call the family again. Thankfully everyone is fine. But for how long, I wonder. Now fear is really gripping at my heart, fear for my family, fear for the people in the streets and fear for the fate of Egypt that I have always loved and known to be peaceful.

Women and men still marching peacefully

Police gets nasty with peaceful protesters

Few hours later I get the text that the bastards shut down the internet and the mobile network. Now I’ m really freaked out and I head straight home. After hours of search I finally find my family’s land line numbers (Who the hell uses land line in 2011? Egypt does thankfully). I call and find out that everyone is still safe and scared for the country they call home.

The regime turns off the internet

Suddenly my feelings have switched. I’m no longer just worried about my family, I’ m angry at the bastards for trying to isolate Egypt from the world. I’ m checking all the social sites to find out what’s happening,Twitter, Facebook, CNN and some random live stream.
All are streaming the sounds of gunfire, people screaming and injuries all over the country…in the dark. OMG! They waited until it was dark to take stab at the protesters. Anger now is eating at my gut. Disbelief that this is really happening at the place I just visited 10 days earlier.

Walk Like an Egyptian

Jan 27:
The internet is still down. Twitter (Hashtag #Egypt #Jan25) is full of instructions on ways around the shutdown. People from all over the world are tweeting  proxy server and Speak2tweet to connect Egypt to the world. I ‘m filled with love for humanity, the white hat hackers and nerdy geeks who stand for freedom.
Clashes reported in Port Said, Suez, Alexandria and Cairo are reported all over the net. I call my family again for the 12th time in 2 days. They are safe and clueless about what’s happening in the rest of the country. But I can hear the fear in their voices.

Protesters in Cairo

Suez clashes

I look for tickets online to fly back to Cairo. Then I hear on the news that the airlines are canceling all flights to Egypt. WTF!!! Now I am totally freaking out, so I call a friend who just visited Egypt for the first time 2 weeks earlier.
“I need to be there. I can’t just sit here and watch. If there are no flights to Egypt, I could fly to Jordan and…and…ride a camel to downtown Cairo?!!”
Really!!! Now I feel stupid, helpless and angry. I stay home that day because I’ m an emotional mess.

Suez on fire

Jan 28:
First thing I do as I open my eyes is check Al Jazeerah, We are all Khaled Said and Twitter, that’s when I read:

Police have disappeared from the streets. The demonstrators have taken over police stations freeing the protesters…and criminals are hitting the streets with guns threatening people in their homes and looting…some people broke into the Egyptian museums…

My first reaction is OMG! not the museum!. It is the treasure of our history and the planet.

Cairo: Mubarak National building on fire

I call my parents but no answer. So I call my nieces instead.
“Your nephews are out in the street since last night with golf clubs and Tennis rackets. People have barricaded the street to protected the neighborhood from looters with guns and knives. Noboy goes in and out without identification and checking their cars”.
I hang up and try my parents again. But no answer. I could feel the panic building.
Where are my parents? Have the looters and thugs gotten into their house? Are they tied down as they took their stuff? OMG, Have they killed my parents?
My cousins can’t get to my parents’ house. It’s total lock down everywhere.  I keep on calling while trying not to lose my mind as I might need it to get to Egypt. Finally my mom answers the phone.
“We are fine. We were downstairs with the neighbors forming watch committees. The young men of our neighborhood along with their fathers and your dad have barricaded the street and there will be 24/7 watch,  split into shifts between all the houses. We are safe…..”
Somewhere between hiccups and tears, I hear myself apologizing for being far away from them. It was the first time in my life that I questioned my decision to live in the States. America is my home but Egypt is where my loved ones are and it is part of who I am.
After 1hour of arguing and crying, I promise not to return to Egypt at this moment. As soon as I get off the phone, I get on We are all Khaled Said and write a long thank you note to the beautiful men of Egypt who are looking after my family while I’ m away.

The image that symbolizes their determination

The army has landed in the streets and people are finding ways to tweet and communicate from unplugged Egypt.

Kickass Internet savvy protesters

Jan 29:
Emotions are constantly changing and once again something has shifted deeply. It is no longer the story of injustice in the world. It is the story of my family. I was once Egyptian and sang to Egypt expressing my love for its soil and people. The people who lived decades in fear of torture, are now protecting my family. The young generation of Egypt are hacking the system to let the world know their story and hear their voices. They are fighting for their rights and freedom

Egyptian women fighting for their right

Egyptian woman throwing rocks at police with guns

I’ m praying. I’m crying. I’m angry and I’m glued to the net.It’s all I seem to do.
People welcome the army. They trust them. They have always protected the people.

Jan 30:
I’ m still glued to the media, watching We are all Khaled Said, Al Jazeerah, CBS, CNN, Twitter…
I’ m a total mess. I can’t go on about my life here. Still contemplating breaking my promise to return to Egypt and join the protesters.
The revolution is gaining momentum, doctors, judges, scholars, artists, rich and poor people are in the streets. People want Mubarak out. Mubarak appoints a VP after decades. A day late and dollar short!!!

People refusing Mubarak's lame speech

Oh! a tank shows up to my family’s street. Mom sends over dinner and tea.

Jan 31:
The revolution is gaining momentum. People stand together of all sect, of all ages, of all classes and of all backgrounds. Just people. Oh! Police is back on the scene now to arrest criminals and show their value….yeah right!
Still glued to all digital media. My life is at stand still. I read, I write and for once in my life, I feel part of what’s going on in Egypt. I only trust the voice of the young generation as all the local Egyptian media has been lying for decades while eating kabob by the Mubarak regime.

Cairo on Jan 31

Feb 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6:
Protesters are filling the streets, all over the country. They won’t go home.
Thugs and snipers are killing beautiful young men and women. Death toll keeps going up. People will either live free of fear or die.

People fighting back

Anderson Cooper among other journalists gets beat up by Mubarak’s thugs.

Anderson Cooper among others Journalists gets beat up Mubarak's thugs

Mubarak regime is trying to convince the Egyptian people and the world that the revolution is funded by outsiders… Really Mubarak!!!! Stop please. Now you sound really stupid, just because you don’t know how to use Facebook, Google and Twitter.
The army is still in the streets. It hasn’t taken sides. Oh! Internet is back on the Feb 2nd.

Nawal El Saadwi (Great Egyptian Writer) at 82 in Tahrir Sq

Feb 7:
Wael Ghoneim, the activist responsible for the Arabic page of We are all Khaled Said was released after 12 days of interrogation and being blind folded. He gave a very moving and emotional interview.

The Energy in the street has picked up as Wael joins the people in Tahrir.
I might be living in Austin, TX but baby, I’ m there every minute of the day. Thank you digital age.
I call my mom for the 3rd time that day to share what I’ m reading. She says
” I’ m praying for this country’s safety. But for the first time ever I’ m grateful that you are not here”

Truthfully, it would have been a hard call. It always feel right and easy to sacrifice yourself for your beliefs. But it is very difficult when you know that your beliefs will harm your loved ones…Then again, how could you live with yourself if you don’t stand up for your convictions?!
I know I can’t. I wish I was there in Tahrir Square.

Thank you Egyptian Youth and Facebook

Feb 8, 9, 10 and 11:
It’s a revolution, so I can’t really give you a minute by minute details. Only thing I can say that it is chaotic and  crazy…people are dying, hospitals are filled with injuries. Mosques and churches have changed to clinics.

And then you see the Muslims and Christians are praying in the streets and protecting each other’s back.

Christians protecting Muslims during prayer time

The people have set up camps, tents and concerts in the square. And wait!!! a couple just got married and they are serving sorbet and juices. I love you Egypt.

Wedding in middle of the revolution

It is a mess. Yet it is a very inspiring mess. So proud of the protesters. So amazed that they are holding their temper. Peaceful!!! Yes peaceful.

People camping in Tahrir Sq

VP Suleiman speaks and sounds even more like an ass.
Army announces that Mubarak will speak again, and rumor has it that he will finally LEAVE.
The Mubarak comes on and OMG! not only he is condescending but he is singing his own praises. WTF!!!
People are so pissed off. My body is pulsating with anger. How dare he!!!!

Millions of people vowed to stay out until Mubarak leaves

Feb 12, 2011:
I can barely open my eyes.  4 hours of sleep mixed with days full of emotional roller coaster sadness, anger, fear, worries, helplessness and frustration are taking their toll. I force my eyes to read the tweets,  We are all Khaled Said and AlJazeerah. I’ m breaking under pressure of this amazing revolution. I want to be there and stand with these amazing people. I could always lie to my parents, except my mom knows me well enough to know when I lying.
I’ m contemplating this as I drive to my hair appointment that I made back in December. I’ m sure my friends are tired of seeing my puffy eyes. No reason to inflict bad hair too because Mubarak is stuck to his chair like a nasty piece of gum. My iPhone is plugged into my ears as I watch and listen the mobile applications of the revolution. My hairdresser is my  putting the goop on my head. That’s when I hear it, Mubarak has resigned.

Mubarak resigns

Egypt Celebrates

Egypt Celebrates

OMG! Tears of joy and an overwhelming sense of relief is all I can feel. My hairdresser sees me crying. She is concerned. All I can say between hiccups and tears ”He is gone and they are safe. Egypt is safe”

Finally I get her to wash the crap off my head and I’ m out calling everyone. My family in Egypt are crying while they are out in the streets celebrating. I write on the pages of the strangers who became my family in the last 18 days of the revolution. I call my friends who have been totally and absolutely awesome and supportive.

Hello Egypt! You have won. Be free and be the great nation that you are.
Egypt has raised me to be kind and proud. America has raised me to speak my truth and follow my dreams. Both are my homes and I’m proud to be Egyptian American.
This my friend is the story of EGYPT 2.0, a revolution using web 2.0 technologies

Special thanks to all the media and the people who shared their pictures, to the geeks around the world who helped Egypt stay connected and to We are all Khaled Said (The English page with its awesome Admin who is not Wael Ghoneim) for educating, mediating and keeping it true.

This is not just the story of the Egyptian people, it is the story of all humanity.

Click CC button to read the translation

Everyone is popping a vein over Kenneth Cole recent tweet about Egypt.

OK! so it may appear to be super tasteless.  BUT really it is sooo brilliant when you think about it.

Those of us who have been glued to the online media watching the revolution unfold in Egypt, can’t  imagine the existence of people that don’t know Egypt past King Tut and his golden necklace. Yet Kenneth Cole, with his brilliant move, has put Egypt on the radar of ….say Paris Hilton and Michael Kors. (I love him and his shoes, and I hate her and her stupidity).

Kenneth Cole has so tastelessly made fun of people fighting and dying for their freedom  to promote his Spring collection. Wow! That sounded really bad.  BUT really it could be great.

While promoting his Spring Collection,  Kenneth Cole  has promoted the revolution in Egypt.

Hell! rumor has it that Kenneth Cole along with other rich, brilliant and philanthropist businessmen and businesswomen will send medical supply, food and create new jobs for all the tortured people in Egypt…

Yay Kenneth Cole!!!!…and the new spring collection.