At the SHARE Beirut gathering last weekend, Nawaat co-founder Sami Ben Gharbia discussed the influence of Tunisian independent collective blog Nawaat and the importance of online activism as a catalyst for societal change.

In this short interview, Ben Gharbia discusses some highlights from his talk including how the Tunisian diaspora remained involved in the Tunisian political space before and during the Tunisian Revolution started in late 2010, and how activists can turn online organizing into real protests on the ground.

Nawaat.org was started in 2004 to provide a completely independent public platform for Tunisian civil voices and debates free of censorship. The platform pulls together articles, visual media, and other data from a variety of sources to provide a forum for citizen journalists to express their opinions on current events.

During a question and answer section of the conference, Ben Gharbia stated, “You can’t teach activists how to start a revolution.” He continued by explaining that online platforms give people the means to collaborate, share ideas, and organize. But it is up to them to take the next steps on the ground.