The other day, Washington Post published an article announcing that Google exec Wael Ghonim is receiving a seven-figure book deal to write a memoir about the Egypt Revolts. “Revolution 2.0” is going to tell the story of how the revolution began with a facebook page memorializing Khaled Said, a young Alexandria businessman who had been beaten to death by Egypt’s notorious police on the street in broad daylight in June 2010. What began as the “We are all Khaled Said” page eventually became the organizing tool for protestors in a series of revolts that eventually led to the toppling of the infamous Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Wael Ghonim’s story is just a small part of how things like facebook and twitter have basically allowed the entire Arab Spring movement to happen, beginning with Tunisia, then Egypt, and now Libya and Syria. The entire movement is an incredible demonstration of how technology is changing the face of the world we live in and allowing for the large-scale spread of democracy, and also a demonstration of how people are taking media into their own hands to spread their word. No longer do we have to depend on organized media to tell us what’s happening or what to do. We are now the media. On the other hand, it is scary to think that this development has given an alternative to organizations like Al-Qaeda, who can now realize that they can take their organization into their own hands.
I made a similar blog about this topic, but I never though of terrorist organizations using social media in similar ways the Egyptians did. It will be interesting to see how social media will impact the Middle East in the upcoming years as well as how Middle Eastern governments will react. Egypt isn't the only country going through a revolution in the Middle East. The people of Syria and Lybia have started revolutions and have used social media to organize their protests. People that are oppressed by their governments can now take matters into their own hands
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