The New Tool to Democracy: Social Media

As a public affairs officer in the US Navy, I was intimately familiar to the power and pull of the social media revolution. Tweets, status updates, blogs, microblogs, and yes, even Vlogs, have been indispensable tools to communicate in a viral medium as well as to track the pulse and viability of a story long after it is written and forgotten.

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During the Iran presidential elections in the summer of 2009, the US State Department specifically requested that Twitter not be taken down for maintenance.  This request substantiated the geopolitical value of Twitter and forever changed the landscape of social media in government, politics, and yes, even diplomacy.

A mini revolution ignited in Iran after the flawed Presidential election of dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.   Meanwhile, the Iranian fascist government virtually choked off the flow of news to and fro Tehran.  Many Iranians who protested that the election was rigged did so via Twitter. Twitter, not CNN, evolved as the ideal medium because it was real-time, was shot-gunned by the people closest to the action, could be deployed by virtually anyone with a computer or cell phone and was virtually impossible for the government to track or block.

During a revolution, crisis or emergency, Twitter really showed its spunk and stamina.  Forward to the present day: Egyptians vividly remember Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979, almost a generation ago.  The unprecedented uprising of how the people threw out an indominable monarch has been magically weaved into the anecdotes of society as cohesively as the tales of Sinbad have become an endearing part of Arabian culture.  

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However, history is never fully flawless. Diplomacy is screened through dense filters manipulated by the ideology of totalitarian states.  In today's dramatic string of Middle East uprisings, social media has been the decisive medium to execution.

So could this revolution happen without Facebook?  It is no coincidence that Mark Zuckerberg was chosen as the 2010 Time Person of the Year.


Just as Twitter was instrumental in Iran, Facebook has been even more crucial to the development of political ideology that has led to this historic uprising.  Without Facebook, poverty, struggles and tension would still tragically exist in Egypt.  But without a Facebook, there would be virtually no way for these tensions to escalate to a boiling point and no way for disparaged Egyptians to vent their anger at Mubarak -- little chance for that pent-up anger to perpetuate across nations and borders. 

Egypt -- Depriving the People the Human Right to Tweet

"The rioting in Egypt is an Egyptian problem, but when the country suppresses the people's basic right to communicate amongst themselves and with people throughout the free world, it suddenly becomes a world problem, for which we must stand up and proclaim."

Egypt means a lot to me.  My travels there this summer brought me friends and memories that will never fade as long as the Great Sphinx guards the pharaoh Khufu's Pyramids.

And I made many friends, some who I converse with on Facebook -- others whom I've lost touch with, but they're still deep inside my thoughts today.  Though Cairo with all its congestion and chaos (had to get up at 5:00 AM just to go for a run without choking to death or been run over) was one tough city to hoe, I found Egyptians warm, open and compassionate.  They were smart, savvy, and welcomed me with a strong handshake or even a hug, and they wanted to make a difference, if not for themselves, for their children.

And the children lived and worked in the most abject conditions I hadn't seen since Haiti.

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Though the people got my vote, the government surely lost my trust.

The living conditions for the common people, the children allowed to labor all day for a measly $3.50, the chaotic congestion on the streets and the way their women were pushed around like commodities made me revolt in the stomach.

Thankfully, the women of Egypt are finally saying enough is enough.  We abhor the way we are treated by our men, by our government.  We deserve to be treated more like equals.  Has that voice fallen on deaf ears?