Online mapping applications have become a standard portal to provide context for global events. The unfolding revolution in Egypt was effectively communicated by several mapping sites that channeled social networking feeds onto a map interface.
Esri pulled together feeds from YouTube, Twitter and Flicker for their Egypt Events Map.
GeoCommons provided a live feed of tweets mentioning #Egypt #Jan25 #Tahrir, along with a time slider.
The UCLA Digital Humanities Project provides a Google Maps mashup called HyperCities Egypt with live Tweets from Cairo, along with a time slider that lets you see Tweets from earlier days.
This level of real-time context as events unfold was one of the most trafficked part of online coverage. People turn to maps as an adjunct to other media outlets, with the dynamic map providing a clearer sense of place. The map often serves as another browser window coupled with live Web video, and ongoing analysis from media and experts. The map is the medium to place what they’re hearing and seeing into a larger sense of implications for the region.
The Internet lets each of us become media newsrooms, and the map is a crucial piece for context of worldwide events. Now that the event has moved past its apex, with President Hosni Mubarak having stepped down, there’s an ongoing interest in taking a look at what has unfolded, allowing us each to become analysts.
The New York Times has done an excellent job of condensing what happened in Cairo over the 18 days of protests with a 3D map experience tied to photos and videos that let you relive the daily tensions, and the remarkably peaceful path to change.
