Did you tweet about the demonstrations in Egypt? Welcome to the revolution! Wait what? The idea that you can start a revolution from your twitter account is absurd. Social media applications (twitter, facebook, foursquare, and the like) have become essential communication tools. The Iranian demonstrations last year proved that they can be used to organize people behind a cause, but twitter employees weren't out in the street shouting. The people were. Tinting your twitter avatar green is, and always will be, a passive show of support! If you want a revolution, tweet or facebook your buddies about it and get on a plane to Egypt. Get out in the street and be heard.
There's no such thing as 'the social media revolution'
Revolutions and other political issues being handled by social media is kind of a scary idea. However, I don't think it's really that unexpected when you think about how much technology has been changing and improving. This makes one wonder how much the world is going to be controlled by technology and media even in the next 5-10 years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone's saying that American tweets had anything to do with these uprisings. You can think of Twitter as a really big loudspeaker: If you're yelling about something far away, probably nobody cares, even if they hear. But it can be a great way to hear that other people are with (or against) you.
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