Held just days after the ouster of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power, the inaugural edition of Dubai Debates looked at the role of social media in the ongoing Arab revolutions, which was then becoming a widely-discussed topic.

Filmed with two off-the-shelf cameras, and with merely ten guests among the live audience, the videos of our first debate went on to reach a much larger following online. In a lively exchange characterized by the optimism of the early days of the Arab uprisings, and with occasional light-hearted moments, panelists included Egyptian star activist Mahmoud Salem and Al Arabiya anchor Mahmoud Abu Obeid. Questions discussed included: Did Twitter and Facebook trigger the revolutions commonly referred to as the Arab Spring? Or did these tools merely accelerate inevitable developments? What lessons could be learned from the usage of social media as means to advance activism?