Sunday, June 26, 2011

Tripoli protesters slowed down, not stopped, by Internet stoppage

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE75M0TJ20110624?sp=true

Opponents of Gaddafi in the Libyan capital say they have had to revert to the kind of methods of communication used by dissidents and revolutionaries before the age of social media.
Unable to build networks on Facebook and Twitter, they have had to feel their way around slowly, the "old-fashioned way", to make contact with like-minded people in other neighbourhoods.
"It is difficult to reach other groups," said an activist who gave his name as Salim.
"There is a lot of fear and people don't trust each other."

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   This article shows one of the main advantages of ICA; speed.  What could take minutes online takes hours using other methods.  I suppose this also speaks to the strong-ties vs. weak-ties of social networking. To me, strong ties are less necessary online.  It's possible to be more anonymous online and still work together, which makes trust less of an issue.  Now that I think about it, that's probably the biggest difference between strong and weak ties, the amount of trust established.  If a group can work together while spending less time having to check each other out, that's a time-saver right there. 

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