One of the key drivers of the successful revolution in Egypt was the ability of the protestors to organise and communicate which was made possible by sophisticated tools provided for by the Internet.

In any successful revolution, communication is usually crucial, hence repressive governments always rush to block or censor the media when things all of a sudden go haywire.

But with the advent of the Internet and most importantly social media-which allows users to select the type of information they want, governments such as the Hosni Mubarak regime struggle to control the flow of information. In Egypt protestors began to mobilise via social media forums such as Twitter and Facebook. These tools allowed protestors to spread the story around the country and around the world.

Through these social media channels, protestors also vented their anger at the Mubarak regime and they subsequently went to the streets seeking change.

It should be no wonder that Mubarak actually attempted to shut down the Internet in Egypt because he realised the power it had.  Although Mubarak actually cut off the Internet, this move proved useless as people still found a way around the blockade. Google for example created a voice-to-tweet service that allowed Egyptians to leave voicemail messages that were turned into tweets.

While controlling the Internet may have seemed like an obvious solution to a situation rapidly spiralling out of control, the Internet actually provided an avenue for protestors to vent their anger. I would like to think that without the Internet and social media forums, the protests would have either died down quickly or became excessively violent.

In a sense, the Internet and social media tools served as important drivers of the successful Egyptian revolution which further illustrates the power of the Internet and web 2.0.