If you have kept up with the news, you're aware that there are some intense anti-government protests in Egypt right now.
Last week, demonstrators began taking to the streets to voice their anger over the policies of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In response, the government shut down social-media websites, and have blacked out all internet access in much of the country.
Today Tuesday February 1, 2011, brought new reports of the internet being shut off in much of Egypt.
To overcome these limitations, technology leaders at Google, Twitter, and SayNow (recently acquired by Google,) have collaborated on a service that allows people without web access to share messages on Twitter via voice mail.
SayNow offers three international numbers that can be called. +16504194196 / +390662207294 / and +97316199855. When calling one of these numbers, SayNow will post a message on Twitter with a link to listen to the voicemail message. These messages will also appear on Twitter with the hashtag #egypt, allowing Twitter users a way to easily find them. You can also visit www.twitter.com/speak2tweet to listen to the messages as well.
At this time, mobile phone networks in Egypt have been shut down, but land lines could still be in use in areas without mobile phone access.
It is amazing how technology can extend our reach and capabilities. I recall in 2008 how the Mumbai terrorist attacks we broken as news stories via Twitter.
Do you think this new capability is good? What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment below if you would like to share your thoughts.
