The incredible video that’s coming up in this article comes courtesy of The Telegraph, and while it’s only in the audio format, it’s very clear what’s going on. Simply put, it’s the live feed of Libyan rebels capturing Mohammed Gaddafi, the son of (soon-to-be ousted?) Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
To say “the revolution will not be televised” is no longer accurate:
Naturally, the situation in Libya (and Yemen) have been hot topics on Twitter, and that’s what lead me to The Atlantic article the lead image comes from. The article itself is a gallery of “homemade” weapons used by the Libyan rebels, and it, like the video, is incredible.
There’s really no doubting the fact the Libyans are tired of the Gaddafi rule and willing to do just about anything to end it.
As indicated, the Libyan situation is a hot commodity on Twitter right–thankfully, no “Promoted Tweets” are present–with “Tripoli” and “Gadhafi” being two of the bigger related trends. The “Gadhafi” trend also shows the various ways to spell the last name of person in question. With The Telegraph and other British publications, the “Gaddafi” spelling is used, but in the United States, the alternate spelling is used.
For what it’s worth, Wikipedia uses the “Gaddafi” spelling, so we’re sticking with that.
With regards to Twitter, instead of focusing on the various tweets, instead, I’d like to draw your attention to the Twitter accounts of Omar Mashjari (@OmarMash) and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi (@SultanAlQassemi). Both of these accounts have been absolute founts of knowledge concerning the chaos going on in Libya. For instance:
@OmarMash
Omar MashjariLibya rebels: NATO will bomb Bab al-Aziziya after sunset prayer.
1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Which maybe one of the most powerful tweets I’ve ever read, and:
@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al QassemiAl Jazeera: Mohammed Gaddafi flees house arrest with the help of Gaddafi battalion members 18 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto
If you’re at all interested in keeping up with the story and you’d like to go beyond CNN, I recommend following both of these accounts. Again, these–the video and the Twitter accounts–are just another example of the strength of social media, even in regards to the overthrowing of despotic leaders whose time has finally come.