State of the Mobile Web, February 2011

Part 1: Revolution and the mobile Web

Over the last couple of months, the world has been watching with great interest the astounding political changes occuring in the Middle East and North Africa — in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and now Libya. The people at the heart of these revolutions have been using the Internet heavily, both as a means of organizing themselves in collective action as well as communicating their message to the world at large, garnering support from people in far away nations. Some believe that such rapid political change would not have been possible without the Internet. The Internet certainly provided a platform for those voices in the midst of conflict who might otherwise not have been heard.

To get a down-to-earth perspective on the statistics presented here, Opera Software conducted an interview with one of the millions of protesters on the ground. Ayman Shokr, an engineer in Cairo, participated in the protests alongside thousands — all united towards a common goal, through technology.

Protesters in Tahrir Square, photographed with mobile phone by Ayman Shokr

“The key success for the revolution was the way we connected, via Facebook and other social media via Internet, to mobile phones,” said Shokr. “It was a revolution based on communication.”

As seen in the statistics from the Opera Mini servers, numbers corraborate the story from Shokr. Facebook usage increased with millions of page views and stayed high even after the large rounds of protests were over.

With instant, global communication, the happenings in Tahrir Square were not limited to select media, as previously seen. Through the mobile devices and use of social websites, it became a person-to-person communication experience.

“It was amazing how the whole world supported us, thanks again to the many forms of communication that enabled us to be connected worldwide,” said Shokr. “After the revolution’s victory, it was incredible to hear the president of the United States say that we want our children to mirror the spirit and unity of Egyptian people and Berlusconi say that there is nothing new in Egypt, as Egyptians are used to making history. That’s the power of communication.”

To read the rest of the interview, follow up the My Opera article.

In this month’s report, coinciding with our spotlight on mobile Internet usage in the Middle East, we decided to take a closer look at some of the relevant sites visited by Opera Mini users in Egypt. We observed some interesting patterns and points of interest in the months of January and February.