One Good Case Of Blogger

Blogger Wael Abbas: Exposing Corruption in Egypt

Blogger Wael Abbas uses the internet to publicize human rights abuses and police brutality in Egypt. He has become well-known for posting videos documenting torture at police stations. His work publicizing one such video led to an unprecedented trial resulting in convictions and jail sentences for the crime's perpetrators.

Vision and Motivation

Since he came to power in 1981, President Hosni Mubarak has kept a tight grip on Egypt. As the years have passed, according to Human Rights Watch, Mubarak has grown to "epitomize the authoritarian Arab ruler, presiding over a system in which opponents are muzzled and imprisoned, and where torture is widespread." ^[1] In this context, the internet is one of the few means Egyptians have to express themselves.

In late 2004, frustration at the Mubarak regime was reaching a peak; the government was preparing to hold presidential elections, yet everyone knew that Mubarak would "win" another term. New grassroots civic movements, such as Kifaya, the Egyptian Movement for Change, formed and began holding protests against Mubarak. However, the Egyptian media did not dare cover these events, so the public was kept largely unaware of the growing civic mobilization.

According to Wael Abbas, "That's when we bloggers decided to take matters into our own hands. We believed in the people's right to know." ^[2] Frustrated at the press' passivity in addressing Egypt's pressing social and political issues, he founded the blog Egyptian Awareness, filling it with his own photos and videos of the protests. Unlike most Egyptian bloggers, he limited his commentary to simple captions of pictures, since he believes "You can write a book and it can all be lies, but one picture can tell the whole story truthfully."^[3]

Abbas wanted to give Egyptians only information, without attempting to lead them in a particular ideological direction. Rejecting the country's existing political movements and their efforts to manipulate Egyptians, Abbas believes that "the citizen needs awareness; he needs to know everything about everyone, because in the end he is the one who will have to decide who is good and who is bad."^[4]

^{Source :https://www.tavaana.org/viewcasestudy.jsp?pageId=2071502000341264606266439&lang=en&restrictids=nu_repeatitemid&restrictvalues=2071502000341267128022771}

Inspirational Use Of Blogger .

1. We should have our cool identity.

(C-cannot reveal gender and age)

(O-original)

(O-out of this world)

(L-something that you Like)

2. All information we reveal online is freely accessible to anyone and you cannot effectively control who looks at your online information. Thus, we need to practice selective diclosure of information. There is no need to lie in order to protect yourself. you become a liar if you habitually tell lies.

3. There are also two kinds\levels of information. Public and private. Public information is okay for anyone to know such information. Private information is information about yourself that cannot be disclosed to others like your contact number.

4. One last thing, remember that you reveal online is public and not private.

Cyber Wellness Tips For Blogger .

1) Think before you say, as not to accidentally reveal any personal infomation (e.g. where you live, which school you go to, etc) to the other party.

2) Respect and Responsibility-don't use vulgarities, deflame anyone or say negative remarks about anyone. Respect others.

3) Street Smart/Astuteness-don't be gullible and tell others sensitive stuff about yourself.

4)  Be Vigilant-read the infomation given to you before clicking any links.

Dangers of Blogger .

Do not have an online profile.
Most blogging services allow bloggers to create an online profile. While it might be fun to post information about likes and dislikes, it is best to refrain from posting any personal details. Often, personal details inadvertently provide insight into physical location or habits. The aggregate information in a personal profile can also assist someone interested in pursuing an individual.

Post anonymously.
Manage your blog anonymously or adopt an alias for all online posting. This will help protect you in the event that you draw unwanted attention.

Avoid personal or identifying details.
Avoid any personal or identifying details when posting in your blog. Do not post in advance about locations that you will be or about areas that you live near.

No photos.
Refrain from posting a picture. Photos can invite trouble or unwanted attention.

Avoid inappropriate dialogue.
Be careful not to engage in dialogue that could be interpreted in a way that it was not intended. Sometimes humorous threads can get out of hand. If the dialogue degrades to an area that makes you uncomfortable, disengage from the dialogue and refrain from further posting. Also when making decisions about individuals online, consider their past posting behavior and attempt to consider their true intentions.

Lurkers.
Always remember that just because you do not have a dialogue with someone does not mean that they are not reading everything that you write. Many people merely lurk on line and don't engage in comment posting, but do read what is written. Your audience could be much larger than you realize.

Timeless.
Internet content is timeless, and keep in mind that even if you remove content, it might be archived or syndicated. If you do not want something read, do not post it to the Internet. High Schools, Colleges and Employers all search the Internet to discern an individuals history. Sordid details about a late night will not help land a coveted job.

The internet is a haven for all types of predators. Always remember that just because someone says something is true, does not mean that it is. Predators adopt personas of who they think you want them to be. Just as we provide guidelines to young children, adults should be wary and take precautions when posting online as well.

While blogging can be a great outlet and channel, and in someway immortalizing thoughts, it is important that safety is considered and that good blogging practices are followed at all times.

Source : http://www.feedforall.com/dangers-blogging.htm

Interesting Facts About Blogger .

Blogger is a blog publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs , which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish blogs on other hosts, via FTP. All such blogs had (or still have) to be moved to Google's own servers, with domains other than blogspot.com allowed via Custom URLs.

On August 23, 1999, Blogger was launched by Pyra Labs. As one of the earliest dedicated blog-publishing tools , it is credited for helping popularize the format. In February 2003, Pyra Labs was acquired by Google under undisclosed terms. The acquisition allowed premium features (for which Pyra had charged) to become free. In October 2004, Pyra Labs' co-founder, Evan Williams, left Google. In 2004, Google purchased Picasa; it integrated Picasa and its photo sharing utility Hello into Blogger, allowing users to post photos to their blogs

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger_(service)