The last movie watched on our Netflix subscription was The Social Network: a movie loosely based on Mark Zuckerberg’s founding of Facebook. While the movie didn’t always paint a flattering picture of Zuckerberg, it did repeat that he was interested in “openness, making things that help people connect and share what’s important to them, revolutions, information flow, minimalism.”
This spring, I have been amazed at the “Arab Spring” taking shape in the Middle East. These revolutions have taken place through the power of social media sites (including Facebook), accomplishing with astonishing speed what could not be accomplished through decades of military force nor terrorists’ bombs. Egypt’s revolution was largely fueled by Facebook. Protests in Palestine this week were said to have been organized on Facebook. Syria’s unrest has spread due in part to Facebook.
Traditional media has of course played a role, with Al Jazeera beaming images of festive crowds into the darkened living rooms of people still oppressed. But there would be no crowds without the tools such as Twitter and Facebook.
Many inventors talk up their product or service as “revolutionary.” Mark Zuckerberg’s invention truly is.