9. Twitter Gets Student Out of Egyptian Jail: 2008 in Review

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James Karl Buck, a graduate journalism student from University of California-Berkeley, and his translator Mohammed Maree, were arrested in Mahalla, Egypt on April 10th for photographing an anti-government demonstration.

Perhaps surprisingly, Buck was allowed to keep his cell phone while in jail, and he used it to Twitter the message “Arrested” to alert his followers to his predicament. They swung into action to contact UC-Berkeley, the US Embassy and the press on his behalf. He used his Twitter feed to document his detention.

Within 24 hours of his arrest, Buck was able to send another, very different one-word message to his followers: “Free.” According to Buck, Mohammed Maree was finally released in July.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said Buck’s story “highlights the simplicity and value of a real-time communication network that follows you wherever you go”.