Both of these articles were truly relevant to me because I have seen blogs like Egyptian Chronicles and I have done some of those rebel activities that had no substance. Ignorance is a contagious disease that has spread from generation, to generation; from country; to county. Ignorance has started many wars and has been the foundation for a lot of hate and pain in the societies, especially America. Education is the best way to cure the disease. When you are educated on a topic, or a concept, or a people, then you have enough grounds and knowledge to speak intellectually about a topic. I think that Egyptian Chronicles is here to educate the visitors of the blog.
Egyptian Chronicles is a blog that updates everyday about the social activism in Egypt from the perspectives of a young woman. I believe the blog was created by the event that took place pertaining to the murder of Khaled Said. Khaled Said fell victim to police brutality. Khaled was quite the activist himself and this caused an uproar throughout Egypt that sent its government reeling. I, personally, did not know that there were still things going on in the country. Things have a weird way of going quiet once the media stops making it a big deal. This blog educated me to see that there are still protests happening and even pictures and video.
In Gratwell's article he said that people will not stick to activism unless they are personally involved or know people who are personally involved. Because the writer of this blog is a native it doesn't surprise me that she updates it everyday. Its different to blog about firsthand experiences than if you were in another country. Especially if that firsthand experience was about something in your home country. Most people you come across with and communicate with is going to be a fellow countrymen. I, have experienced falling out of an activist role because I personally was not being effected. KONY2012 campaign came out last year. When I first saw the video I was pumped to do something about it. I was already checking my bank account to by a box full of their advertisement so that I could post it around school when I caught wind that the business was quite untrustworthy. The campaign did not request a lot from me. They only wanted needed money and advertisement. I dropped the cause because I was not affected by it.
The blog surprised me because of its decorative homepage. The top banner has beautiful images of Egypt and although the blog talks about how thousands of people are protesting their corrupt government there is still a very positive manner in which she delivers the news. By the use of her color scheme I can already tell that protesting is a positive manner to her and her small biography on the right-hand side tells me that she loves her country. I certainly do not use my social networking sites to try to do anything that she does. I use most of my social networking sites to have friends and talk to people. I never thought of using it to keep those same friends updated on today's current events.
I think that people are more likely to get involved in a cause if it is right outside their front door. But even in a country like Egypt, I would imagine that people who are 1000 miles away from "the fight" are less likely to get involved and stay involved than those who are living through the revolt.
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