The ongoing violence in Syria and a media blackout by the regime has highlighted the importance of citizen journalism in telling the story of the country's uprising.
Since the killings of Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik in Febraury, there has been little Western media coverage from Syria.
But ordinary Syrians have continued to report from the country using smartphones and the internet.
The dangers of citizen journalism in Syria were stressed by Local Coordination Committees, which organise and report on protests in Syria.
Local Coordination Committee spokeswoman, Rafif Jouejati, said: 'Being a citizen journalist in Syria carries immense danger – if you are caught at a protest, you could be shot.
'Anyone reporting on this is in a sense running a suicide mission because they are likely to be targeted and killed, or detained – which could be worse. They are truly heroes."
Citizen journalist, Rami al-Sayed, 26, uploaded more than 800 videos showing the bombardment of Homs before he was killed in a shell attack on Baba Amr on 21
February. His cousin, 24-year-old Basil al-Sayed, was another citizen journalist in Homs who was reportedly shot in the head by security forces in December.
Jouejati said the Syrian government traced citizens reporting on mobile phones with technology allegedly backed by Iran.
She went on to claim that Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin was targeted and killed on 22 February after she sent a message from her mobile phone which was tracked by security forces.
Demotix is a newswire that posts photographs and videos from citizens and freelance journalists around the world.
Chief executive of Demotix, Teri Munthe, says: 'There has been a change in the way citizen journalism has been used in the last year. In the early parts of the uprising, there was a reticence from people in Syria. Almost nothing was coming out for fear of reprisal.
'Over the course of the last year, when it was clear it was going to be a really big fight, it hardened the resolve of the people involved. Over the last few months, there has been a concerted effort to get this information out.'
Munthe added that the amount of information received was still low compared with other Arab countries such as Egypt because Syrian people were terrified of the consequences.
Ravin Sampat is the editor of Blottr – a user-generated news website which allows anyone to post stories, pictures and video. He said: 'There has been a very big media blackout in Syria.The government wants to stop the flow of information and that's led to a rise in citizen journalists. People are using their iPhones and, despite the government's attempts to block it, it goes viral, creating a domino effect."
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