AMMAN - Standing in the rain, holding their umbrellas, banners and a guitar, a group of Jordanians on Tuesday cheered for the people of Egypt, Tunisia and the Arab world.

In a peaceful symbolic gesture of solidarity with their fellow Arabs, around 150 university students and youths in their 20s, gathered for a sit-in that was organised on the spur of the moment.

"I knew about it from Facebook and Twitter," said Jude Sajdi, who was chanting for Egypt with the crowd.

She said it was not very clear who exactly organised the sit-in, but that she thought it was the least she could do to support the people of Egypt as they prepared for their "million" march.

On Monday, Jordanian Twitter users "retweeted" the calls for a "solidarity protest with Egypt 's million person march".

"This is a spontaneous activity held by young people who care about what's going on around them," noted Widad Adas, a researcher in social development, who was present at yesterday's sit-in.

She could not help but admire the resilience of the youths who showed up.

"As much as we have dubbed the 'new generation' as silly and self-absorbed, they are the ones who are really unafraid of voicing their opinions everywhere in the Arab world," she told The Jordan Times.

"They have managed to utilise a means to organise themselves away from parties and institutions, using a new language that only they can understand: the social media," Adas added.

From web to world

Sajdi said the event was living proof that Jordanian youths are not using social media to "fool around".

"Social media is powerful as an outlet for serious discussions and news. We don't just use them to talk about mundane everyday activities," she said.

Architecture student Dina Batshoun agreed, saying that social media has helped connect youth to gather on the ground.

"We got the chance to know about the activists among us when we met them on these websites. We wouldn't be here if we hadn't read what they tweeted," she said, explaining the process of the sit-in.

“The youths have managed to utilise social media to mobilise themselves. They have asserted their presence in the virtual world, which gave them the necessary boost to go out to the streets and communicate in actuality,” explained Hussein Khozai, associate professor of sociology at Balqa Applied University.

Khozai said the new medium added to its users’ self-confidence, making them fearless to express their opinions.

Mature media

On the Jordanian utilisation of social media, local blogger Mohammad Omar said social media in Jordan in his opinion has risen out of the ashes.

“There was a point where I wanted to quit Facebook and Twitter and all social media. People here were using them for the silliest reasons; to say they went out with their girlfriends or that they had a cup of tea somewhere,” he charged.

But something happened in the recent weeks that made him change his mind.

“After what happened in Tunisia with the uprising against the president, and now the protests in Egypt, social media became an actual source of information,” Omar noted.

He said that Jordanian Facebook and Twitter users became interested in politics and spreading relevant information.

“You couldn’t find anyone on Facebook who hasn’t made at least one post on the situation in Egypt, discussing it politically, posting a picture or a news item, or even changing their profile picture to express their stance on the events,” the blogger noted.

He said there might be a negative side effect of a fabricated photo or rumour on the events in Egypt here or there, but the “huge efforts” made by the young users of the equally young medium dwarf that, with a sea of relevant information they gather and disseminate.

Blogger Abeer Abu Touq echoed Omar’s thoughts.

“Ever since the uprisings started in Tunisia and then Egypt, Jordanian social media users became more concerned in what’s going on in the world. It’s no longer a sudden outburst that quickly fades away,” she told The Jordan Times.

“They’re now expressing balanced opinions knowledgeably. They don’t go where the wind takes them,” she added.

“This is the power of social media, nothing can stop it,” said Sajdi, looking at the chanting crowd yesterday.

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(Image taken from johnvasko.com.)