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In the aftermath of Muammar Gaddafi’s capture and death, NATO commander Admiral James Stavridis announced his intent to end the war in Libya on his Facebook Page.

As Wired points out, social media may not have caused the uprising and revolts in Libya, but networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube certainly have helped groups better organize and communicate. The fact that the end to the Libyan war was announced on Facebook first underscores the importance the service holds in getting information out to wide groups of people.

In his Wall post, Stavridis wrote,

An extraordinary 24 hours in Libya. As SACEUR, I will be recommending conclusion of this mission to the North Atlantic Council of NATO in a few hours. A good day for NATO. A great day for the people of Libya.

The capture of Osama bin Laden, the Arab Spring and even the more banal debates in U.S. politics have all exemplified the growing role of social media in the geo-political process.

Who would have thought that end-of-war announcements would find their way to Facebook?

More About: Facebook, james stavridis, libya, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Top News

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The Internet has been restored to Libya after the country shut down its network links to the outside world for six hours last night. Now that the Internet is back, protesters are making the most of their connectivity by mapping tweets using Google Maps.

According to those trusty wire watchers at Renesys, “Two-thirds of Libyan routes came back to life at 6:01 UTC [1:01 a.m. Eastern], and the remainder were restored nine minutes later … and Libya is back on the Internet.”

Now that the net is back, we can see brave people tweeting away, letting each other know what’s going on inside the troubled country. Beyond that, those tweets are being mapped in ways that are spectacularly useful.

Take a look at this Google maps mashup, created by Twitter user @arasmus. It compiles Twitter messages and then places them on a map with an unmistakable legend attached each one.

On the map, you can see police locations, protesters on the move, power outages, and the number of deaths that have occurred. A click on each icon shows more data, such as warnings where police are using live ammunition. And, @arasmus is regularly updating this map, saying it’s current to within a few minutes.

This is just one of the powerful social networking tools the protesters can use to keep tabs on the situation. We’re wondering if Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi and his police force are also using this map for their own information.

More About: Google Maps, libya, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Revolution, trending, twitter

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