As social media networks were shut down, dating sites such as Mawada played an important part in linking those seeking to topple Moammar Gadhafi.
Revolutionaries used poetry laced with revolutionary phrases to gauge the level of commitment to an uprising from an unknown fellow Libyan. They could then exchange phone numbers and call or IM to avoid government scrutiny.
Mahmoudi hoped to get 50,000 supporters to the streets. Instead, with various aliases on the dating site, he had 171,323 admirers by the time Libya’s internet crashed.
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