Facebook has proven itself a great tool for meeting up with former classmates, keeping in touch with far flung relatives and tending to virtual farms, but apparently it is also pretty good at toppling autocratic regimes.
At least, that seems to be the lesson learned after events which started in Egypt but have now spread across the Middle East. Governments in Libya, Algeria, Bahrain, Yemen and even Iran, have begun to feel the effects of popular dissatisfaction brought about by the ever more popular aspects of social media, chiefly, Facebook.
With Facebook, leaders of the recent democratic movement in Egypt were able to organize, meet and share ideas covertly. The governments initial efforts to shut down the internet as a way of controlling the movement failed miserably. People simply tapped into cellular networks, some even resorted to hard wired 52k dial-up modems to stay connected.
As a result of these repeated protests spurred by a social connection never before seen in the history of human civilization the 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak came to an abrupt end.
The whole world watched the events which transformed, are still transforming Egypt, but what is perhaps not so widely known is that these protests actually began in June of 2010. Using Google’s anonymous e-mail system they had coordinated efforts to administrate a Facebook page called “We Are All Khaled Said,” organizing an effort to protest against police brutality. Khaled Said was a government dissident who was allegedly detained by police, brutally beaten and killed. Photos of his abused body were circulated by people intent on revealing government evils. His death spurred many into taking action, including the people behind his Facebook page.
The instructions on the “We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page told people precisely where to stand, how to dress and what to do in what many consider the nation’s first organized protest. This protest started a tidal wave of popular revolt which resulted in an 18-day, near country wide stand against Egyptian President Mubarak.
Sure, the people of Tunisia did it first, but that seemed a little bit easier given the nations turbulent past and regular upheaval. Egypt was different. It was also more of an impromptu event, spurred by outrage as opposed to coordinated effort.
Egypt’s protests were definitely not a spur of the moment thing. In fact, after the success of the June 2010 event another group of organizers created a new Facebook event called “The Day of the Revolution Against Torture, Poverty, Corruption and Unemployment” slated for the now infamous date of January 25. More than 80,000 people clicked “yes” on their invitation, and no doubt spread the word to as many non-internet savvy friends and neighbors as they could.
It is difficult to gauge at this moment what the outcome of the protests sweeping across the Middle East will be. The new governments, if new governments are formed, may or may not be more friendly to Westerners; peace may spread across the region and the price of gasoline may plummet. Or, the situation may change in some way no one has yet predicted and no one outside the situation could possibly anticipate. What will happen, without a doubt, is that people who have been subjugated for decades, if not hundreds or even thousands of years, will see freedoms they have never known before. Not because of diplomacy was this change wrought, not because of a bargain struck by foreign powers over a cup of chai tea and biscuits, but because of the advent of a piece of technology designed to help shy, introverted people find friends and popularity on a college campus.
It is always amazing to see something designed for one purpose put to use for something its designers had never envisioned. In fact, in this case perhaps the truly amazing things are yet to come.
Thomas is the Founder and CEO of a premiere Virtual Assistant company in the US. He also consults on Search Engine Optmization and how to make your day more efficient thru the use of Virtual Assistants. To find out more information please feel free to visit their website.