Political Unrest in Egypt and Social Media’s Role

It looks like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be looking for a new job soon.  But first he’ll have to repair his image.  He might want to look into an SEO campaign from the guys at Banc Media to put a positive scene on his presidency. Though we’re not sure that’s possible.

As political unrest grows in Egypt, I think it’s fair to say the tipping point was the government’s concerted effort to block citizens from using the Internet and disrupting cell phone service.  People will tolerate a lot of abuse, but take away their ability to surf freely, and watch them lash out.  Mubarak, who has survived six assassination attempts, will likely be taken down – not by sniper – but by social media.  The 82-year-old former Lieutenant General for the Egyptian Air Force probably never saw it coming.

Political corruption, a terrible job market and poor living conditions are all put on display for the world to see on Facebook, Twitter and the hundreds of other smaller networks out there.  The story has now been picked up by major media around the world. But one of the story angles being overlooked by many media outlets is the volume of sourcing support services in Egypt.  Monster companies such as IBM and Verizon rely on the nation for call center work and  software support.

Will conditions in Egypt improve with a new president?  That remains to be seen, but with $11 billion of Egypt’s revenue coming from tourism, they are going to need a serious SEO campaign from Banc Media or another expert.  If tourism fades, and it certainly is on that track as countries such as the United States have warned citizens to return home, the country is going to need to do some major repairs.  After all, tourism accounts for 12% of all jobs in the country.

Hey, Oprah’s back from Australia, right? That’s the kind of tourism PR campaign Egypt is going to need!

Originally posted on February 1, 2011 @ 6:44 am