Tworld News: Week of January 17, 2011

All the news that's fit to tweet. And fit to be altered in the name of shameless internet/comedic glory.

It's times like these that remind you why you became a GOP-themed crossword puzzle maker.

Sounds like somebody's got Pope envy.

Read More »

Tags: Facebook, House of Representatives, Martin Luther King Day, Movies, Pope Benedict XVI, Reince Priebus, RNC, Sarah Palin, Star Wars, Tunisia, Tworld News

Tunisia's Facebook Riots of 2011

After Iran's Twitter Revolution of 2009, it seems like we've crossed a line that can never be un-crossed no matter how many times we click "Undo." For better or worse, words like "tweet" and "status" and "blog" are a part of everyday parlance, and this is actually happening in the actual world that we all actually live in…

[B]ehind the postcard-perfect facade, legions of jobless youths who see no future are seething under the iron-fisted leadership of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and worried fathers wonder how they will feed their families. Their despair over Tunisia's soaring unemployment and rising food prices has fueled more than three weeks of deadly riots, posing the most significant challenge yet to the 74-year-old leader who grabbed power 23 years ago in a bloodless coup.

And what has helped to break the barrier of fear that kept Tunisian anger bottled up for so long? Social networks like Facebook, which have helped organize protests and fuel online rage across this North African nation.

Rioting via Facebook? Rioting via Facebook…

Tags: Facebook, Iran, Science & Technology, Tunisia, Twitter