Foreword

In 2008, James Buck, a young photojournalism student attending the University of California, Berkeley, set off purposefully for Egypt to photograph citizens coming together in protest. A charismatic individual, it didn't take long for James to find lodgings and make friends. He hoped that over meals and coffee, his new friends would give news of upcoming protests—including locations—so he could be there to capture historic, iconic moments of civil unrest of Egyptian people protesting and share them with the world.

Although he established a strong network of friends, James found once there that he was not hearing about protests until after they had already taken place. He did, however, learn about the speed and efficiency with which these protests were assembled—and their powerful impact in various regions. He was also fascinated by how these assemblies so effectively disbanded, very often before the police showed up to make arrests.

Missing out on the action was of increasing frustration to James, especially given the limited time he had to accomplish his goals in Egypt. It seemed that an invisible and incredibly coordinated operation without a traditional hierarchy was operating all around him, and this compelled James to find answers. How were these protests so efficiently and effectively processed with so few arrests? What was the secret?

To get to the bottom of this mystery, James asked around, and his Egyptian friends answered him directly. “We all have mobile phones,” they told him. “We are using them to access a free service that works over text messaging called Twitter.” At that time, Twitter, Inc., had been incorporated for only one year, and most of Silicon Valley, not to mention anyone in the United States who had heard of the service, dismissed it as a useless waste of time.

On the advice of his friends, James signed up for Twitter so he could both receive and send Tweets—140 character text messages—on his simple mobile phone. He used it to chronicle his adventures in short bursts to his friends back at Berkeley, and more importantly, he started following the Tweets of several dedicated protesters. Within a few days, James received the kind of Tweet he had hoped for.

The Tweet told of a protest against the rise of food prices and dropping wages in Mahalla that had been discovered by Egyptian authorities and shut down. Peaceful protesters had been detained for too long. Tensions among family members and friends began to rise. Eventually these tensions flowed onto the streets, and they were not so peaceful. Molotov cocktails were being thrown and tires were set ablaze.

On April 10, James gathered his gear and headed to Mahalla, where the increasingly robust protests were gathering in strength. James was worried about getting arrested in such foreign surroundings, so he made sure he maintained a safe distance while he took photographs. That way, he figured he could not be associated with the protest. James's companion in Egypt looked him in the eyes and said that he had a bad feeling about that particular protest. They made a decision to leave immediately.

As they attempted to escape the area of activity, James and his companion were taken by Egyptian authorities. James quickly found himself detained in the back of a police car. Mohammed's “bad feeling” had turned into a very serious situation for the young student, and panic would have been a perfectly normal reaction. As luck would have it, the Egyptian police had not followed procedure—they had forgotten to take away James's mobile phone. Before the driver got back into the car to take him to a holding facility, James sent one of the shortest but most historic Tweets since the medium was created. The Tweet was only one word: “Arrested.”

Cairo-based blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy at UC Berkeley was one of the first to see James's Tweet, and he helped spread the word of Buck's arrest. el-Hamalawy knew this situation could be dangerous, and he feared for James's safety. While James was being interrogated at police headquarters, word of his predicament spread quickly through Twitter and beyond. Soon, more friends at Berkeley knew, then the dean, then the Egyptian Consulate. Within a matter of hours, James was released from custody, and he sent out another one word Tweet: “Free.”

When our small team in San Francisco first heard about the ordeal James endured and the role Twitter played in giving him an international voice, and ultimately freedom, our eyes were opened wide to the potential of what we had created. Long before we hired our first sales employee, we hired Claire Díaz-Ortiz to launch our Corporate Social Innovation and Philanthropy department. We were less than forty people at the time, but start-ups have a unique advantage to work the idea of “doing well by doing good” into the fabric of the company culture from the very beginning.

In 2011, I met with representatives from the Marine Corps of the United States of America. They wanted to learn how to use Twitter better during emergencies when they are called in to help victims of natural disasters. In those scenarios, every second counts. When there is an earthquake anywhere in the world, people are tweeting while the ground is still shaking. Those in a position to help want this information as soon as possible, and the right use of Twitter can help rescue workers and volunteers receive and send vital information.

At Twitter, we strive to make a positive impact in the world, but we cannot do it alone. If Twitter is to be a triumph, then it will not just be a triumph of technology, it will be a triumph of humanity. Claire Díaz-Ortiz was my first choice to lead our Corporate Social Innovation and Philanthropy team because she passionately believes that by democratizing activism, Twitter can help us all make the world a better place. She took weeknights and weekends to write this guide for helping non-profit organizations, foundations, and corporate brands running prosocial campaigns to determine how best to use Twitter.

I'm proud of Claire for her tireless effort and enthusiasm. And I'm proud of everyone who wants to take a step toward changing the world. People are basically good. When you give them a simple tool that helps them exhibit that behavior, they will prove it to you every day. Twitter has taught me this powerful lesson—among many other things. I hope Claire's work teaches you to use Twitter for the good you work so hard to achieve. Thank you for considering Twitter and good luck in all your endeavors!

Biz Stone

June 2011

Cofounder, Twitter, Inc.

San Francisco, California