Scientific research reveals positive results from ICA in Arab Spring

http://pitpi.org/?p=1051

"Focused mainly on Tunisia and Egypt, this research included creating a unique database of information collected from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  The research also included creating maps of important Egyptian political Websites, examining political conversations in the Tunisian blogosphere, analyzing more than 3 million Tweets based on key-words used, and tracking which countries thousands of individuals Tweeted from during the revolutions.  The result is that for the first time we have evidence confirming social media’s critical role in the Arab Spring."

First, social media played a central role
in shaping political debates in the Arab
Spring.

Second, a spike in online revolutionary
conversations often preceded major
events on the ground.

Third, social media helped spread
democratic ideas across international
borders.



Finally, a data-centered study on the value of social media during a revolution.