{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T14:30:58Z","timestamp":1776090658343,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"IGI Global","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,1]]},"abstract":"<p>Many observers heralded the use of social media during recent political uprisings in the Middle East, even dubbing Iran\u2019s post-election protests a \u201cTwitter Revolution\u201d. The authors seek to put into perspective the use of social media in Egypt during the mass political demonstrations in 2011. We draw on innovation diffusion theory to argue that these media could have had an impact beyond their low adoption rates due to other factors related to the essential role played by social networks in diffusion and the demographics of Internet and social media adoption in Egypt, Tunisia and (to a lesser extent) Iran. To illustrate the argument the authors draw on technology adoption, information use, discussion networks and demographics. They supplement the social media data analysis with survey data collected in June 2011 from an opportunity sample of Egyptian youth. The authors conclude that in addition to the contextual factors noted above, the individuals within Egypt who used Twitter during the uprising have the characteristics of opinion leaders, that is, a group of early adopters with influence throughout their social circles and beyond. These findings contribute to knowledge regarding the use and impact of social media during violent political demonstrations and their aftermath.<\/p>","DOI":"10.4018\/jiscrm.2013010101","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,5,23]],"date-time":"2013-05-23T16:42:55Z","timestamp":1369327375000},"page":"1-21","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Between a Rock and a Cell Phone"],"prefix":"10.4018","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6124-3749","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Andrea","family":"Kavanaugh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA"}]},{"given":"Steven D.","family":"Sheetz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Accounting and Information Systems, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA"}]},{"given":"Riham","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computing and Information Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Cairo, Egypt"}]},{"given":"Seungwon","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA"}]},{"given":"Hicham G.","family":"Elmongui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer and Systems Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt"}]},{"given":"Edward A.","family":"Fox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA"}]},{"given":"Mohamed","family":"Magdy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA"}]},{"given":"Donald J.","family":"Shoemaker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA"}]}],"member":"2432","reference":[{"key":"jiscrm.2013010101-0","author":"J. 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