Dubai: Facebook and Twitter have helped hundreds of thousands of youth without political affiliations to organise support in less than two years.
Today, the movements have proved to be capable of mobilising millions of people to take to the streets and demand the end of Hosni Mubarak's regime.
Mubarak, who has ruled the country for almost 30 years, has never felt threatened as he does today.
One leading group with more than 100,000 members on Facebook is the 6 April Youth Movement.
The group formed following a call on the internet to conduct a strike in Al Mahalah city on April 6, 2008 was officially launched in 2009, on the first anniversary of the successful Al Mahalah strike.
The formation of the group was met with an iron fist by the government security forces and a number of the group's leaders were arrested in a bid to smash the movement.
Today, the movement has become bigger in number and geographical coverage. The members have developed a clear structure with Ahmad Maher as general coordinator and Engy Hamdy as deputy in charge of Media. Engy, who has been camping at Tahrir Square since the uprising was launched on January 25, told Gulf News the regime continues to deal with youth movements as groups of immature people with no experience who should listen to the Old Man and obey him once again and go back home.
She said none of their demands would be met because this was the very same government which had sent its thugs to storm the square and kill more than 10 people and injure more than 2,000.
Ready for big sacrifices
Engy said that after the youth movements succeeded in gathering more than 1 million people to stand up against the regime for 11 days, the young people in Tahrir Square are sure that the regime cannot deceive it anymore.
Engy said the 6 April Youth Movement will not leave Tahrir Square even if the thugs of the regime kill 10 every day. "We are ready for big sacrifices. We are sure that we cannot gain our freedom without sacrifices," she said.
Sharif Al Roubi, Head of Activities at the 6 April Youth Movement, explained why the groups gathered at Tahrir Square will not leave their positions. He said young men and women cannot trust Mubarak's regime simply because Mubarak cannot be trusted to democratise the country.
"Believing Mubarak's promise to democratise Egypt in six months is as if Italians agreed to entrust Benito Mussolini with eliminating fascism instead of revolting against his regime," he said.
Al Roubi, a mechanical engineer who graduated six years ago and worked briefly in Libya in the garment trade, said unemployment is not the only motivation for thousands of people to revolt against Mubarak.
Disappointment
"Misusing the country's resources and the spread of feelings of disappointment amongst the people are the main two reasons for the uprising that surprised the organisers, including the 6 April Youth Movement," he added.
Youth for Justice and Freedom, with over 5,000 members on Facebook, was established on the internet one year ago with special focus on achieving justice and freedom through peaceful means. Khalid Al Saeed, secretary general of the group, told Gulf News that the group has rejected an invitation by Omar Sulaiman, Vice-President, for talks over the future of the country.
"We cannot accept any talks under Mubarak's regime. We cannot trust the man and we voted for freezing coordination with traditional parties if they agree to talk with the regime. We left our homes to end this regime and we will not return till we achieve our goals," he said.
Al Saeed graduated as a mechanical engineer from Halwan University in 2008. He said the success of the current uprising has surprised the group as well as the government. "We are living through the age of democracy and regimes like the one run by Hosni Mubarak will disappear shortly," he said.
Central committee
Amr Ezz, member of the gearing committee of Supporting Al Baradei Campaign and Amending the Constitution, said young men's groups have formed a central committee to manage the uprising.
"The regime believes that youth have no organisational structure. The truth is youth revolting against Mubarak are managing the uprising by using modern information technology with a different language for communication," he said.
The Shabab Elikhwan Board (Brotherhood Youth Board) is an offshoot of the traditional Muslim Brotherhood group. Dr Mustafa Al Najjar, spokesman of the board, told Gulf News the difference between the youth group and the main group is quite big.
"We believe in coordinating with other youth groups regardless of their ideologies. We don't have a problem with sitting with socialists, liberals or even atheists," he said.
