Speak2Tweet
Google subverts Internet ban, gives Egyptians Twitter access
Utilizing speak2tweet technology, Google has orchestrated a means to subvert the Internet ban in Egypt and allow people there to post Twitter messages via voicemail.
Reuters originally reported that as Internet access remains shut off in Egypt, a Monday post on Google's corporate blog read: "Like many people we've been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground."
Internet service has been suspended and text messaging disabled in Egypt, where protestors have gathered since last week to urge the collapse of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
The service does not send Tweets from individual accounts. Rather, people dial one of three specific telephone numbers and leave a voicemail, which is then broadcast on Twitter with the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is needed to use the service.
It marks another instance that Twitter, which often counts #JustinBieber as its most trending topic, has achieved more meaningful use as a means of communication in countries embroiled in turmoil. During the Iranian revolutions in June of 2009, protestors used Twitter to organize and report to one another.
You can access the messages coming out from Egypt here.