1) Social media and new communication technologies enabled collective action and independent journalism in Egypt, challenging the official narratives of dictatorships by increasing shared awareness and removing barriers to political engagement. 2) The U.S. aimed to promote democracy in the Middle East through initiatives like the Alliance for Youth Movements, which used information technology for social change. 3) The April 6th Youth Movement and Facebook page "We Are All Khaled Said" helped catalyze protests against Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt in 2011, culminating in a "Day of Rage" that left Mubarak in a difficult position and witnessed the beginning of democratic dissent.

1. Case Study: Movement for Democratic Change in EgyptUses of Social Media and Public Diplomacy Kirsi Yli-Kaitala

3. Links to increasingly symbiotic relationship between politics and methods of communication

5. Aided opposition groups with successes in:

6. Serbia

7. Georgia

9. Social Media and Political Empowerment

12. Increase of ‘shared awareness’

17. U.S. Initiatives in the Middle East

18. Democracy Promotion in the Middle East

20. Democracy promotion by means of information technology

22. Building up to the ‘Day of Rage’ Kifaya Movement

24. Building up to the ‘Day of Rage’ Bloggers Create a Direct Link to the “Street”

26. Spread across blogosphere, newspapers took up the story

28. New relationship between bloggers and traditional media

30. April 6th Movement

31. April 6th Movement

32. April 6th Movement

36. Protests against regime gain momentum

39. How Did it Work in Egypt?

40. Why Did it Work in Egypt?

42. Iran 2009

44. Operational dangers

45. Difficult for outsiders to understand local conditions of dissent

47. Success more likely if the uses of social media are allowed to rise from within

49. Gersham, Carl. (2006). Democracy promotion in the Middle East: Time for a Plan B? National Endowment for Democracy.

50. Gladwell, M., and Shirky, C. (2011). From Innovation to Revolution. Do Social Media Make Protests Possible. Foreign Affairs.

51. Heaven, Will. (2011). Egypt and Facebook: Time to Update its Status. NATO Review.

52. Herrera, Linda. (2011). Egypt’s Revolution 2.0: The Facebook Factor.

53. Hirschind, Charles. (2010). New Media and Political Dissent in Egypt. Revista de Dialectología y Tradiciones Populares

55. Sharp, Jeremy M. (2005). The Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative: An Overview. CRS Report for Congress.

56. Shapiro, Samantha. (2009). ‘Revolution, Facebook-Style’. New York Times.

57. Shehata, Dina. (2011). The Fall of The Pharaoh. How Hosni Mubarak’s Reign Came to an End. Foreign Affairs.

58. Shirky, Clay. (2011). The Political Power of Social Media. Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change. Foreign Affairs.