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2WEBDESIGN.COM
Power to the people - Political revolution through
social media Commentary by M.Mouneeb Shahid, CEO, 2WEBDESIGN.com.
In the past few months we have seen a major shift in
the North African and Middle Eastern countries due
to a democratic spark that originated from Tunisia. It
all started by the self-immolation of a street vendor
who set himself on fire after confiscation of his wares and
harassment by municipal authorities. After this gruesome
tragedy, most people could relate to the hardships imposed
by the government and widespread demonstrations were
held across Tunisia. This movement created a massive
political unrest that ultimately brought down the 23 years
of dictatorship in 28 days.
The Tunisian revolution was very closely followed
by Wael Ghonim, a Google executive, who had started a
Facebook page called “We are all Khaled Said” back in June,
2010. The page commemorated Khaled’s torturous treatment
by Egyptian authorities under the emergency law which
resulted in his death. It didn’t take long for the Facebook
page to become popular very quickly as many Egyptians could
relate to the event. There were political discussions and talks
about what could be done to deal with such events in future,
but more so it was an open platform to share frustrations and
provide unbiased feedback.
The events in Tunisia were a mere spark in an already
fueled up crowd of a frustrated generation in Egypt that
was well networked through the Internet and social media.
Collaborating and coordinating a widespread protest was not
a problem through the Facebook page. In fact, all it took was
a mere announcement and since everyone shared the same
ideology on political reform, the result was a tremendous
and united outcome. Millions of people protested actively
across the country and as a result, once again the people were
victorious. Three decades of dictatorship was over within
18 days.
The trend has traversed in to neighbouring countries
where the repercussions of political revolution of Tunisia and
Egypt have shocked other nations. Libya in particular has
been on the hotspot where violence has transcended across
the borders of Tripoli and other major cities. We all hear the
disturbing news of unnecessary civilian casualties as a result
of a nation’s war against its own people.
The underlying fact is that such revolutions are being
taken place by mostly the youth and people under 35 years
of age. This group of people are also the most “connected”
segment of the population using communication technologies,
primarily the Internet and social media. What they say is heard
by many due to the reach that they have using social media
and therefore the impact is profound and powerful.
Coming on more familiar turf, just a couple of years
ago as we recall President Obama came in to power for a
number of reasons. Certainly his prominent message of hope
was powerful, but it was the way that it was communicated
using infectious social media techniques that made him very
popular.
In all social networks Obama had a clear lead. On
Facebook for instance Obama gained 10 times the new friends
on election day than McCain. On MySpace Obama had 4
times more friends, on Twitter Obama led by more than 20
times more followers and overall Obama had 3 times more
blog posts. The result of all this was the highest number of
younger voters coming out to vote for Obama.
Governments are accustomed to work and communicate
a certain way. Too often we see governments ignoring means
of gaining valuable information directly from the people
using social media techniques and this results in a retarded
response rate. In today’s fast paced environment, facilitated
by technology and convenience, people are more impatient
than ever. Waiting around is simply not an option whether
it is for governments or businesses.
Social media has consistently proven that it can facilitate
communication and cause change on larger and smaller
scales. It is about time we learn to embrace it more effectively
so we can be part of change, otherwise we will have to embrace
change that we do not want to be a part of.
M. Mouneeb Shahid
Your Web Consultant
2 WEB DESIGN Inc.
16 April 2011 BUSINESS View­