Stories in 2011 that social media made happen

Hundreds of soldiers in riot gear filled Tahrir Square in the early hours of Dec. 19, 2011 as another wave of violent clashes with protesters demanding an end to military rule swept through Egypt. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

On its "About" page Twitter states, "we believe that the open exchange of information can have a positive global impact. Every day we are inspired by stories of people using Twitter to help make the world a better place in unexpected ways."

It's not an empty statement. In recent years, the site has become the poster child for social media activism - and in 2011 it fueled social media's unprecedented impact on global affairs.

Citizens bypassed state-controlled media in Africa and the Middle East, organizing their protests using text messages and tweets, BBM and blogs. It was also the catalyst for chaos, attracting some to riots in Vancouver and London, England.

Here's a look at the top stories that social media made happen. Without communities taking their voices online, these stories would certainly have played out differently - or possibly not at all.

1) Tahrir Square, Twitter and the Arab Spring

(Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)Nowhere this year was the impact of social media felt more than in Africa and the Middle East. It began in January, when a month of protests in Tunisia eventually ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Democratic elections followed in October, and Moncef Marzouki, a veteran human rights activist, serves as interim president.

Egyptians followed Tunisia's lead, taking to Cairo's Tahrir Square. Thousands clogged the streets to call for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who had been the head of an oppressive regime for more than 29 years.

Citizens bypassed state-controlled media in Tunisia and Egypt by posting photos and videos of the clashes between protesters and state security. Hashtags like #Cairo and #jan25 (the day the protests began) flooded Twitter, coalescing Egyptians' voices with others around the world that supported their cause.

After 18 straight days of protesting, Mubarak fled the country on Feb. 11. CBC's live blog of the events in Cairo ultimately became the most-read CBC Community story in 2011.

While social media was not the Arab Spring's singular cause, it magnified global attention to the situation and was critical in organizing those on the ground. "Social media was both a spark and an accelerant for the movement," according to Wired.com, comparing the activism to the circulation of pamphlets during the American Revolution.

Social media has continued to play its role as an organizer for citizens, protesters and news outlets following the story in other countries including Yemen, Syria and even Egypt in its continuing social unrest.

2) Occupy Wall St. spreads online and worldwide

(Geoff Howe/The Canadian Press)In September, New Yorkers gathered in Zucotti Park to protest what they described as corporate greed, global warming and social inequality, among other grievances, in what became known as the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The movement, whose spark is credited to Canadian counter-culture magazine Adbusters, went largely unnoticed by major news outlets in its early weeks. But protesters organized on Facebook and Twitter with hashtags like #ows, and on their unofficial homepage http://occupywallst.org/

The Occupy movement broke through the media silence in early October, when New York police arrested more than 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. In the words of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, the media blackout became a media circus, with political and financial pundits arguing about the movement's perceived lack of leadership or focus.

Meanwhile the Occupy movement spread across the United States and Canada, with protests and marches taking over the streets in cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Regina. Stories about the movement regularly made the most-viewed and most-commented lists on CBCNews.ca, and the Community Team's polls tallied votes in the thousands.

3) Riots in Vancouver and the U.K.

(Rich Lam/Getty)The Vancouver Canucks' crushing loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup riots was quickly overshadowed by riots and looting that erupted upon the game's conclusion.

In the days after the chaos, Vancouverites voiced their disdain online, organizing a massive cleanup of the city and using social media to identify those who participated in the riots.

Users posted pictures and videos taken with cellphones and mobile devices on a Facebook page built specially to help capture rioters. They also posted screenshots of posts in which other Facebook claimed to be heading to the riot zone to participate in the mayhem.

Vancouver police sifted through more than 5,000 hours of video, much of it sent in by citizens. So far more than 200 charges against more than 80 alleged rioters and looters have been recommended, with more charges still coming in.

Social media played a similar role in the United Kingdom, when the police shooting of a young man erupted into looting, arson and violence. Rioters gathered in hot spots pointed out by text messages sent over networks like BlackBerry Messenger.

Some Londoners posted photos and videos to identify the culprits much like in Vancouver, but the darker side of social media took center stage when U.K. Prime Minster David Cameron proposed a suspension of all social media during the worst of the violence.

"Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill," Cameron told Parliament during an emergency session.