FB had a direct role in the downfall of Egypt and Tunisia.
You may not want your own FB page but saying that FB is "dumb"?
It's 2011.
It's changing the world.
You may be overestimating the role of Facebook in the Middle Eastern revolutions. Do you KNOW how much internet penetration there was in Egypt? Like, 19%. It's really not that much compared to Western economies. Cell phones, on the other hand, are significantly more prevalent. A lot of the Tahrir Square protests were organized via text message and good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face.
You may be overestimating the role of Facebook in the Middle Eastern revolutions. Do you KNOW how much internet penetration there was in Egypt? Like, 19%. It's really not that much compared to Western economies. Cell phones, on the other hand, are significantly more prevalent. A lot of the Tahrir Square protests were organized via text message and good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face.
You can use FB (and Twitter) very easily with just a mobile phone. One to one texting doesn't scale - that's the whole point of social media, your FB post/tweet is one to many and a very effective way to spread a message or information. I'm not taking a side on whether FB and social media were instrumental in Egypt, but I wouldn't discount FB just because of lack of internet penetration. One of the reasons phones are so prevalent is that one device serves so many functions: phone, computer, music player, gaming.
Mar 12, 2011, 9:13 am
