Was checking my mail earlier morning when this headline from CNN caught my attention: “Freed man now uses Twitter to help friend“. Here’s a short summary and some excerpts from the article that I read from CNN.
James Karl Buck
James Karl Buck, an American student working on a photography project in Egypt for his master’s thesis was arrested together with his interpreter while taking photographs of local anti-government protests over low wages and rising food prices. He was able to get out of jail with the help of Twitter*.
James Karl Buck was released from a Mahalla jail after sending a one-word blog post from his cell phone through the Twitter Web site. The message — “Arrested” — alerted all of his friends on the site of his detention.
When his college found out about the situation, they hired a lawyer who then got him out of prison. Now that he’s a free man, Buck is using his Twitter network (611 followers as of writing) to help free his friend Mohammed Maree.
Mohammed Maree
“He’s only in prison … because he wanted to help me,” Buck said. “Now I’ve got to repay the favor.”
Mohammed Maree was an Egyptian veterinary student who offered to be his interpreter and help him with his project. Maree is still being detained in prison as of this moment.
CNN’s full story here
‘m currently following Jam
If you’d like to get updates regarding this story and/or join in helping free Mohammed Maree from jail, you can follow James Buck on Twitter - http://twitter.com/jamesbuck or on his personal blog Journalism is Not a Crime.
*Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or “tweets,” from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook in less than 140 characters.
*photos taken from CNN.com
May 25th, 2009 at 4:18 am
with twitter, you can earn money PLUS! you can save a friend hehehe. That was a great story. Thanks for the post.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:40 am
@vanjohn - You mean ask the readers via poll? I can do that but not right now. But if you ask me, both are useful. In my case, I use Twitter to network with other bloggers and promote my blog. Everytime I publish a new post, it gets published by TwitterFeed as a tweet and becomes my status on Twitter. So everyone who follows me on Twitter sees it. As for Plurk, most of my Filipino online friends and bloggers are there so its like a place to hang out and chat.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:38 am
hmmm. I never knew much about Twitter until now, when I just checked it, Jaypee, favor… try asking the viewers, which is more prefferable: Twitter, or Plurk
vanjohnn tius last blog post..Ms. Velez 2008 Final Night! Part 1: Festival Round.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:55 am
@Hussein - Kahit matagal na yon comment basta hindi ko pa nasagot, nagrereply ako. Was pretty busy with personal stuff and had problems with my laptop.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Hala. Tagal na nung comment ko ah. Where have you been?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
@Noreen - Yes it is. Glad you liked that story. Yeah, its been a while but thanks for dropping by and for informing me about your new URL. Take care & have a nice day!
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
wow that’s really interesting!!!!!
btw, tagal ako di nakadalaw sa blog mo…lumipat na naman ako ng url hehehe TC!
August 28th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
@Laarni - I’m sure there’s also an interesting story involving Plurk but just not as unique and interesting as this. Or maybe, it hasn’t happened yet.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Interesting! I wish there is a Plurk story like this din. harhar.
Laarnis last blog post..Let’s talk about your hair on your pits, girls.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
@Mahalia - I know, times change fast and the advancement of technology is very rapid. Who would’ve even imagined something like this happening and how Twitter got a person out of jail. Thanks for sharing.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Fifteen years ago, this would not be possible. My how times change. Good for him he brought his cellfone along. If it were in the days of our lolas, it would have taken years before any word of his arrest. And a few more years for a lawyer to post bond.
Mahalias last blog post..Meme na Ining
August 18th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
@Jehzeel - Haha..that’s right. I guess some already did transfer to Plurk but still kept their Twitter accounts open.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:18 am
good thing his twitter followers did not transfer to plurkkkkk
Jehzeel Laurentes last blog post..How To Lose Four Inches of Fat in Just Two Weeks?
August 7th, 2008 at 9:45 am
@Modest - Too bad you didn’t get popular but at least nothing bad happened during your trip and you’re safe.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I was just in Mexico and kept telling myself that if I ever got arrested I would do the same thing and become popular in the internet world. But I was all safe and nothing happened.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Hi. My name is Jerome Herrera. I have a forum called Penster Online. It is a forum where Filipino writers can improve their writing skills and talk
to each other. The main goal of the forum is to find the writer in every Filipino. I was wondering if you are interested in exchanging links. Penster Online
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address. Thanks and God bless.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:50 am
@pepPeR - His friend Mohammed Maree was released about 2 months after this story was released. Thanks for the compliment and for dropping by.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:48 am
It’s good thing that there are still some people who would take such kind of risk in order to expose some things that the world should also know. I hope that he would be able to help his friend as well to get out from prison. Nice blog.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:10 am
@Hussein - Yeah, napabayaan ko kasi sobrang busy tapos nasira pa yon laptop ko. Pero eto, I’m back to blogging. Anyways, maraming salamat sa suporta.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Oops. Long time no update ah..
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July 5th, 2008 at 6:10 am
@bluepanjeet - Yeah, that’s true and like what Ade mentioned, its good Twitter wasn’t down when it happened.
(Regarding the PBA this year, my blog isn’t one of the finalists and I don’t even know if it was nominated. Thanks anyways for your support.)
July 5th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Wow, what an incredible story! And to think that I’ve thumbed my nose at Twitter.
July 5th, 2008 at 6:07 am
good thing his twitter is wired to his mobile… proof that today’s technology is powerful as ever
happy weekend bro!
(PS just checking out your PBA nomination, have no news about it, keep me posted if you need power vote… im behind you!)
July 4th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
@Ucilelek - What is complicated? The story or how to use Twitter like he did?
July 4th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
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July 2nd, 2008 at 8:40 am
@narendra - Yes, very interesting indeed.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 am
that really interesting with the use of Twitter
narendra.s.vs last blog post..Windows xp gone. what vista got, Did you know?
June 29th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
@Jan - Thanks for the info.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Wordpress 2.6 will be available this July, check out my blog.
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June 25th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
@Manila Freelancer - I’m sure the world would be totally different if the Internet wasn’t invented. A lot of our technology and lifestyle were created because of the Internet.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I cant imagine the world without internet….
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June 21st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
@homebuddy - It helps to be tech or Internet savvy. Yeah, good thing Twitter wasn’t down and its good that the police didn’t confiscate his cellphone so he was able to use it.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:05 pm
a way to go to get out of jail. Buti nga talaga Twitter was functioning well that time!
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June 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
@Web Tools - That’s true. This story is not only about Twitter but the power of blogging. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
June 21st, 2008 at 5:52 pm
This shows the power of blogging. Individual voices are heard.
Web tools & Tipss last blog post..Orb24 | A decent, if not best "Free File Sharing Program"
June 21st, 2008 at 3:10 am
@Pinoy Lotto - Yes it is and this is one good example of it.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:06 am
useful pala ang twitter
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June 18th, 2008 at 8:55 am
@Destination - Yep, his friend was also released about a month later after this story came out.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Good for him. I only hope that his friend will be able to be released as well. It is so lame that we have to be scared of places arresting you for no reason. Especially just taking a picture. I like how new technologies like Twitter are able to help people out like that.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:20 am
@Kevin - This story was on CNN so most likely they know about it.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:17 am
The twitter team should know this story, really.
Kevin Paquets last blog post..Loneliness
June 18th, 2008 at 2:40 am
@Hussein - That’s a good idea. Maybe you can make a post about that on your blog? The only problem I see is that many Filipinos are not that tech savvy to use Twitter. Thanks for sharing though!
June 18th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Every Filipino must now introduced to twitter. Kidnapping is very popular nowadays here.
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June 16th, 2008 at 1:05 am
@Miss Dre - Yeah it is and I wonder what other unique/creative ways Twitter, Plurk or Pownce, etc can be used for.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Wow, Twitter is quite useful
Miss Dres last blog post..Paranoid Much?
June 8th, 2008 at 8:35 am
@littlelight - I think the time spent is not really the issue but on how kids use it. I guess its okay to spend a lot of time in the Internet as long as they use it to actually learn something educational or something that can help them, including Twitter.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:30 am
parents who tell their children not to spend too much time online should read this.
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June 6th, 2008 at 7:50 am
@bodydetox - Most certainly is!
June 6th, 2008 at 7:46 am
June 5th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
@Joni - Twitter picked a good time not to go down coz this story is definitely good publicity for them.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
And good thing the twitter pagination wasn’t temporarily disabled. LOL @Ade.
Jonis last blog post..Learning it the Hard Way
June 5th, 2008 at 8:20 am
@Ade - I know. I wonder what would’ve happened if Twitter was down and he wasn’t able to use it?
June 5th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Good thing Twitter wasn’t down when it happened.
Ades last blog post..BREAKING NEWS: Cat Gets Run Over By A Motorcycle, Turns Into A Woman