Tools are not causes of social actions, but parts of socio - technical action, things that help us do some things, hinder others, and are integral to how we live, act, and see ourselves — this is also how I hope people will think of the role of social networking sites and other technologies in the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, not as causes, or as irrelevant, but as tools (for
protesters, though sometimes also for security forces)-- in North Africa, even with a less
than open internet, some of those involved in recent events certainly seemed to produce their own role as active
citizens partially through the use of everyday tools and technologies.