benefits of social networking

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Educational Benefits Of Social Networking Sites UncoveredScienceDaily- June 20, 2008

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered theeducational benefits of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. The same studyfound that low-income students are in many ways just as technologically proficient as theircounterparts, going against what results from previous studies have suggested.

The study found that, of the students observed, 94 percent used the Internet, 82 percent goonline at home and 77 percent had a profile on a social networking site. When asked what theylearn from using social networking sites, the students listed technology skills as the top lesson,followed by creativity, being open to new or diverse views and communication skills.

Data were collected over six months this year from students, ages 16 to 18, in thirteen urbanhigh schools in the Midwest. Beyond the surveyed students, a follow-up, randomly selectedsubset were asked questions about their Internet activity as they navigated MySpace, an onlineforum that provides users with e-mail, web communities and audio and video capabilities.

"What we found was that students using social networking sites are actually practicing the kindsof 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today," said Christine Greenhow,a learning technologies researcher in the university's College of Education and HumanDevelopment and principal investigator of the study. "Students are developing a positiveattitude towards using technology systems, editing and customizing content and thinking aboutonline design and layout. They're also sharing creative original work like poetry and film andpracticing safe and responsible use of information and technology. The Web sites offertremendous educational potential."

Greenhow said that the study's results, while proving that social networking sites offer morethan just social fulfillment or professional networking, also have implications for educators, whonow have a vast opportunity to support what students are learning on the Web sites.

"Now that we know what skills students are learning and what experiences they're beingexposed to, we can help foster and extend those skills," said Greenhow. "As educators, we always

want to know where our students are coming from and what they're interested in so we canbuild on that in our teaching. By understanding how students may be positively using thesenetworking technologies in their daily lives and where the as yet unrecognized educationalopportunities are, we can help make schools even more relevant, connected and meaningful tokids."

Interestingly, researchers found that very few students in the study were actually aware of theacademic and professional networking opportunities that the Web sites provide. Making thisopportunity more known to students, Greenhow said, is just one way that educators can work

with students and their experiences on social networking sites.

The study also goes against previous research from Pew in 2005 that suggests a "digital divide"where low-income students are technologically impoverished. That study found that Internetusage of teenagers from families earning $30,000 or below was limited to 73 percent, which is21 percentage points below what the U of M research shows.

The students participating in the U of M study were from families whose incomes were at orbelow the county median income (at or below $25,000) and were taking part in an after schoolprogram, Admission Possible, aimed at improving college access for low-income youth.


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Greenhow suggests that educators can help students realize even more benefits from their socialnetwork site use by working to deepen students' still emerging ideas about what it means to be agood digital citizen and leader online.

" E d u c a t i o n a l B e n e f i t s o f S o c i a l N e t w o r k i n g S i t e s U n c o v e r e d . " S c i e n c e D a i l y . 2 0

J u n . 2 0 0 8 . W e b . 2 6 O c t . 2 0 1 1 .

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Social Learning: Can Facebook and Related Tools ImproveEducational Outcomes?

ScienceDaily May 9, 2011

Online social networking sites, such as Facebook, can help students become academically andsocially integrated as well as improving learning outcomes, according to a study by researchersin China and Hong Kong. Writing in theInternational Journal of Networking and Virtual

Organisations, explain that Facebook usage is around 90% across campuses and manyeducational institutions offer new students orientation on how to capitalize on social networkingto improve their experience of their course and their final results.

Many previous studies of social networking have focused on identity presentation, privacy, andhow social networks form. Much of the popular response to the advent of web 2.0 tools is thatthey can have a detrimental effect on students by being nothing more than trivial distractionsfrom serious study. However, Stella Wen Tian of the University of Science & Technology ofChina (Suzhou Campus) and Angela Yan Yu, Douglas Vogel and Ron Chi-Wai Kwok of CityUniversity of Hong Kong, suggest that students' online social networking directly influencessocial learning and can positively influence academic learning.

The team carried out discussions with college students to understand current online socialnetworking experience and attitude towards using Facebook for education. They hoped tounderstand the influence of online social networking and how educational institutions mightimprove pedagogical orientation and practices, especially given that peer pressure has beenrecognized in various studies as one of the most important influences on student life."The typical social network pattern on Facebook is often in a core-periphery mode: an individualhas close relationships with core friends and weak relationships with many others," the teamsays. "Online social networking applications such as Facebook offer an efficient platform forcollege students' socialization by expanding their network scope and maintaining closerelationships."

There were two main aspects of student Facebook use, the team found: one social and oneeducational. Students reported that it could enhance and maintain friendships, build socialnetworks/establish virtual relationships , diminish barriers to making friends, follow peertrends, share photos, for fun and leisure and to keep in touch with family. In terms of learning,students reported that Facebook allowed them to connect with the faculty and other students interm of friendship/social relationship, provide comments to peers/share knowledge, sharefeelings with peers, join Groups established for subjects, collaboration: notification, discussion,course schedule, project management calendar and to use educational applications fororganizing learning activities.


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The team says that, "Facebook greatly influences college students' social life and shows goodpotential in coping with the challenges that students face." They conclude that, "Educationalinstitutions may need to adopt active (but somewhat restrained) actions to utilize existing socialnetwork applications such as Facebook for education. Teaching activities will need to beappropriately designed for different target populations. The breakthrough point may start fromstudents' social learning."

Social Learning: Can Facebook and Related Tools Improve Educational Outcomes?ScienceDaily. 9 May 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

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The New Rules of Online Job Hunting

By MICHELLE GOODMANJan. 7, 2011

As any astute job seeker knows, the days of sitting on your duff 20, 30 or 40 hours a week while

scouring the online job boards are over. But it's not enough to simply slap a profile on LinkedIn,

or make a couple of pithy tweets, and wait to see whether any of your contacts announce an

employment opening.

To truly be a web-savvy job seeker, you need to embrace the new rules of online job hunting.

Follow them, and it could make the difference between a protracted employment hunt and

starting your next gig before spring.

Using Job Boards as Research Tools

Forget about applying for work through the online jobs boards and posting your resume on

them for all the recruiters of the world to see. Instead, the judicious job seeker uses online job

sites for research only; sniffing out which companies are hiring, what sort of candidates they're

looking for and what experience is required. Then she'll mine her LinkedIn, Facebook and other

online networks for a contact who can make an introduction to a mover and shaker at the

companies she's learned are hiring. Why send your resume into the [email protected]

void when you can have a real live person at the firm you're targeting pass along your resume for

you?

Creating an Online Presence

Gone are the days of your resume being your self-promotion mainstay. Today it's all about

earning a rock star reputation online. "Use blogs and social networks to communicate what

makes you a special and attractive candidate. Attract the right job opportunities by explaining


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what you're passionate about and the types of jobs you're interested in," said personal branding

expertDan Schawbel, author of "Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future."

Candidates who really want to stand out from the digital crowd may have to up the online ante,

Schawbel added. Among his top suggestions: contributing articles to industry newsletters and

websites, crafting a catchy video to promote your talents and creating a Google AdWords

advertising campaign that points potential employers to your website.

Pre-Emptive Networking

Don't wait until you're looking for work to start schmoozing up a storm -- do it now. "Regardless

of whether you are looking for a new job, aim to establish meaningful, one-on-one relationships

with individuals who share your career interests and are a few steps ahead of you on the ladder,"

said workplace expertAlexandra Levit, whose books include "How'd Your Score That Gig?" and

"New Job, New You." That way, you'll be ahead of the game next time you find yourself

searching for work.

Think about it. How would you rather conduct your next job hunt? By e-mailing 30 of your most

trusted industry colleagues that you're in the market for a new gig, or scrambling to first

assemble that cadre of 30 close colleagues?

Seeking Out Hiring Managers

Why leave the ball entirely in the court of those doing the hiring if you don't have to? Rather

than conducting a plain old passive job search, Schawbel recommends conducting "a people

search." How?

1. Research which five to 10 companies you'd most like to work for.

2. Use Google andLinkedIn to figure out which positions at these firms best match your skills

and experience, and to find employees on those teams or in those departments. (Get in-depth

LinkedIn tipshere.)

3. Use LinkedIn, Twitter and face-to-face professional events to get to know these employees.

Avoid the temptation to ask if they can hook you up with a job.
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4. Once you've established a rapport with someone at your target employer, ask them to help

you set up an informational interview there and to forward your resume to those in the hiring

seat. Even better if you've already done your contact a favor first.

"This way, you're connecting directly with people who can hire or refer you, which is the easiest

path to getting a job," Schawbel explained. "This works much better than submitting your

resume blindly into a recruiting database that won't even get looked at."

If you hit a dead end, don't give up. The more contacts you cultivate at your target companies,

the better your odds of landing a position there. Happy New Year, and good hunting to all!

Goodman, Michelle. The New Rules of Online Job Hunting.ABC. 07 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Oct.

2011.

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Companies Are Erecting In-House Social Networks

By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF

Published: June 26, 2011

What would Facebook look like without photos of drunken nights out and tales of misbehaving

cats? It might look a lot like the internal social network at the offices of Nikon Instruments.

The tone is decidedly businesslike, as employees exchange messages about customer orders,

new products and closing deals. And the general rule is that if you dont want your company

president to see it, dont post it, said John G. Bivona, a customer relations manager at Nikon

Instruments, which makes microscopes.

As social networks increasingly dominate communications in private lives, businesses of all sizes

from tiny start-ups to midsize companies like Nikon to behemoths like Dell are adopting

them for the workplace. Although it is difficult to quantify how many companies use internal

social networks, a number of corporate software companies have sensed the opportunity and

offer various systems, some free to existing customers, others that charge a fee per user.

Its one more instance of how consumer technology trends, like the use of tablet computers, are

crossing into office life. Because of Facebook, most people are already comfortable with the idea

of following their colleagues. But in the business world, the connections are between


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colleagues, not personal friends or family, and the communications are meant to be about work

matters like team projects, production flaws and other routine business issues.

At Nikon, for example, which employs 500 people in offices throughout the United States,

Canada and Brazil, a code of conduct for using the service leaves little room for the idle chit-chatthat is pervasive on Facebook.

Still, it can be tricky to transport the mores and practices of social networking into the office.

For instance, some workers prefer to be lurkers who read posts rather than write them. Others

are just not interested. At Symantec, the computer security company, a few employees initially

disliked the idea of an internal social network, but nevertheless used it to air their complaints.

Another issue is how to protect corporate secrets. The systems are generally set up so that

companies can determine who sees particular files and who belongs to specific groups on the

network. Yet problems still arise over where the data is ultimately stored. Some social network

providers use their own servers. But that may conflict with the rules of some potential clients

that prohibit storing company information outside their firewall, said Susan Landry, an analyst

with Gartner.

Companies that provide social networks respond to the concerns by emphasizing their rigorous

security. Still, some offer networks that allow customers to keep their data on their own servers.

And employees may post private information more widely than they should.

Its sometimes a disaster, Ms. Landry said. It sometimes gets shut down by security or

compliance.

At the same time, even though companies make clear in etiquette guides how to use the

networks, missteps occur. For example, at Symantec, a worker posted his cats photo in his

profile instead of his own. A well-meaning worker at Nikon alerted everyone to apple pie in the

kitchen; never mind that colleagues in other offices were not interested.

One of the biggest providers of corporate social networks is Salesforce.com, the online business

software company based in San Francisco. It said 80,000 companies use its corporate social

network, Chatter, up from around 10,000 when it was introduced a year ago. Yammer, a start-

up and also based in San Francisco, said its service is used by more than 100,000 companies, up

from around 80,000 a year ago.
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SAP, Cisco Systems, Socialtext, Jive Software and SuccessFactors are also pushing their

products. Last month, VMware joined the list when it acquired Socialcast, one of the earlier

networking services.

Salesforce and Yammer both offer free versions of their social networks to companies. Salesforce

charges $15 per user a month for its premium network existing software customers pay

nothing extra, however while Yammers costs $5 per user a month. At Symantec, which is

based in Mountain View, Calif., more than a third of the 18,500 employees are able to use

Chatter. More employees, and potentially some of the companys partners, will be added to the

network later this summer.

But not everyone who can use it does so. Chatters analytic system, which can identify the most

influential users, shows that only around 40 percent of the sales team is active on the service,

said Tacy Parker, global sales force manager at Symantec.

Still, Troy McKaskle, a chief technology officer at Symantec, is an evangelist for Chatter, which

he says helps employees with everything from getting advice about how to configure their iPads

to getting feedback on projects.

Mr. McKaskle follows around a dozen groups on the service, and posts messages frequently. On

a recent day, he wrote, Get ready for Odyssey! using a code name for a new technology that

Symantec is developing.

Dare I ask what Odyssey is? a colleague responded.

Keeping posts relevant is important to the success of social networking within companies,

managers of the networks agree. White noise will only annoy people and cause them to ignore

the services.

Employees can always stop following colleagues who post inane comments about their lunch, or

they can quit groups in which they are no longer involved. On the other hand, employees in far-

flung offices can use the network to be noticed in a way that would otherwise be impossible.

A Symantec salesman in Dubai, for instance, has built a large following by creating a group that

dispenses sales tips. Colleagues from around the world contribute advice too.

Although generally serious in tone, some corporate social networks have a lighter touch that

recalls some of Facebooks whimsy. A new feature on Yammer, for example, lets employees

praise colleagues by giving them a gold star, among other accolades.


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Bosses can also take the pulse of the work force by posting a poll. Recently, Yammer introduced

the ability to post videos.

Weve only built about 10 percent of what we want to build, said David O. Sacks, Yammers

chief executive, who unabashedly describes his service as very Facebook-like.

One of the benefits of social networks for many employees is a decline in e-mail use. Instead of

sending out mass mailings, workers post messages or collaborate on presentations within the

service.

Of course, social networks have not replaced many of the existing tools for collaborating, like

Microsoft SharePoint. Nor have meetings become obsolete.

Scott Lake, director of V.I.P. marketing at Caesars Entertainment, the casino colossus based in

Las Vegas, said his team used Chatter to coordinate and promote events like Celine Dion

concerts for the casinos best customers. Online groups set up for each event help ensure that

everyone involved has the most up-to-date information.

Questions and answers are visible to everyone in the group. Doing the same thing via e-mail

would be cumbersome if not impossible.

Before, we got on conference calls and hoped the information would be passed around, Mr.

Lake said. Now, we have a lot fewer calls and meetings.

Kopytoff, Verne. Companies Are Erecting In-House Social Networks.New York Times. 26

Jun. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

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Social Networking Benefits ValidatedKaren Goldberg Guff January 28, 2009

Washington Times

Texting, blogs, Facebook, gaming and instant messages might seem, to some, to be just morereasons to stare at a computer screen.

Thinking like that is so 2008, any middle schooler will tell you. Now a study that looked at theonline habits of 800 teenagers backs them up.

Researchers in the study, titled the Digital Youth Project and conducted primarily at theUniversity of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley, found that in ourincreasingly technological world, the constant communication that social networking provides isencouraging useful skills. The study looked at more than 5,000 hours of online observation and
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found that the digital world is creating new opportunities for young people to grapple with socialnorms, explore interests, develop technical skills and work on new forms of self-expression.

There are myths about kids spending time online that it is dangerous or making them lazy,says Mizuko Ito, lead author of the study, which will be the basis of a forthcoming book,Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning With New Media. But we

found that spending time online is essential for young people to pick up the social and technicalskills they need to be competent citizens in the digital age.

Co-author Lisa Tripp, now an assistant professor at Florida State University, says technology,including YouTube, iPods and podcasting, creates avenues for extending ones circle of friends,

boosts self-directed learning and fosters independence.

Certain technical skills in the coming years are not going to be just about consuming media,she says. It is also going to be about producing media. It is not just about writing a blog, butalso how to leave comments that say something. Learning to communicate like this iscontributing to the general circulation of culture.

That means anything from a video clip to a profile page is going to reflect the self-expressionskills one has, so teens might as well practice what will say who they are.

Social networking also contributes greatly to teens extended friendships and interests, Ms.Tripp says. While the majority of teens use sites such as MySpace and Facebook to hang out

with people they already know in real life, a smaller portion uses them to find like-mindedpeople. Before social networking, the one kid in school who was, say, a fan of Godzilla orprogressive politics might find himself isolated. These days, that youngster has peerseverywhere.

This kind of communication has let teens expand their social circle by common interests, Ms.Tripp says. They can publicize and distribute their work to online audiences and become sort of

a microexpert in that area.

The study found that young peoples learning with digital media often is more self-directed, witha freedom and autonomy that is less apparent than in a classroom. The researchers said youthsusually respect one anothers authority online, and they often are more motivated to learn fromone another than from adults.

Goldberg Guff, Karen. Social Networking Benefits Validated. Washington Post. 28 Jan. 2009

Web. 27 Oct. 2011

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How Charities Harness Social Media to Raise Awareness, Money

On April 14, actor Hugh Jackman pledged to give AUS $100,000 to the charity that could bestconvince him, via Twitter, that it was deserving of the award. On Friday, Jackman announcedthat, unable to decide, he had chosen two winners to split the prize: Operation of Hope, amedical foundation that donates surgical procedures to children in developing countries born
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25338245-12377,00.htmlhttp://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25338245-12377,00.htmlhttp://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25338245-12377,00.htmlhttp://www.operationofhope.org/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25338245-12377,00.htmlhttp://www.operationofhope.org/


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with facial deformities, and Charity: Water, a non-profit dedicated to providing safe drinkingwater in developing countries.

One of the winning tweets came from Charity: Water president and founder Scott Harrison, whotweeted a link to a photo of a group of Ethiopian children holding up a hand-made sign with the

simple message "Dear Mr. Hugh Jackman, thank you for helping us!" Harrison added: "dear@realhughjackman -- just snapped this near eritrean border at a school of 1400 w/o cleanwater."

Charity: Water is only one of many examples of non-profits using social media to raiseawareness and encourage donations. Although the media is always abuzz about the latestcorporation to open a Twitter account or YouTube channel, research indicates that it's actuallynon-profits that are most likely to make a push into the world of online social media -- and reapits benefits.

Charity 2.0

This isn't the first time that Charity: Water has harnessed the power of social media to fund itsprojects. In February, it was the beneficiary of Twitter-based charity drive Twestival, when itposted daily videos of its ongoing efforts to drill wells in Ethiopia. In March, it was the first charityto use YouTube's Call-to-Action feature, a video overlay available to non-profit users that linksviewers to a group's donation page.

"The whole world is changing because of social media," said Harrison, who was pleasantlysurprised to learn of Jackman's donation. "It's really become a force for good and a great way toeducate people. It's a powerful way to tell a story to hundreds of thousands of people."

Other charities have also ventured into online video and social networking. 24 Hours for Darfuruses YouTube videos to bring the stories of genocide survivors to a global audience. TheHumane Society created a YouTube contest asking viewers to create videos responding to theMichael Vick dogfighting controversy. And the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Bronx Zooposts videos of adorable animals to draw attention to its work protecting wildlife.

In a 2007 report entitled Blogging for the Hearts of Donors, University of MassachusettsDartmouth professor Nora Barnes and research partner Eric Mattson found that nearly three outof four U.S. charities used social media, especially online video, as a key component of theiroutreach and fundraising. Nearly half of the major charities surveyed made use of social media;in contrast, earlier Dartmouth studies suggested that only 8% of Fortune 500 companies hadany social media involvement.

"There is more of a financial incentive for charities to use social media," explained Barnes, whois director of Dartmouth's Center for Marketing Research. "Traditionally, they have had lessmoney for advertising and PR; now they can level the playing field through the use of socialmedia. For the first time, they can compete with big companies with little or no funds. They aremoving quickly into social media, more quickly than any other group we've studied."
http://www.charitywater.org/http://twestival.com/http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=LD50xTsUNawhttp://www.youtube.com/24hoursfordarfurhttp://www.youtube.com/video_response_view_all?v=UaTKPfqAbxghttp://www.youtube.com/user/WCSMediahttp://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/blogstudy4.cfmhttp://www.charitywater.org/http://twestival.com/http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=LD50xTsUNawhttp://www.youtube.com/24hoursfordarfurhttp://www.youtube.com/video_response_view_all?v=UaTKPfqAbxghttp://www.youtube.com/user/WCSMediahttp://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/blogstudy4.cfm


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Rachel Beer, a founding partner of Beautiful World, a fundraising and marketing agency thatworks with charities and social enterprises, explained the advantages of social media forcharities:

They are free (in the main), fast, flexible, and they enable charities to engage with large

numbers of existing and prospective supporters. They provide charities with greateropportunities to share more information about the important work that they do, and toseek and receive feedback. They also allow individuals to engage with charities in a waythat is convenient to them and of their choosing, which -- provided charities follow theprinciple of engagement first, before asking for support -- provides the opportunity tobuild deeper, more loyal, relationships.

The Power of Video

Beer emphasized that charities shouldn't think it necessary that they leap into every form ofsocial media; rather they should think about what best fits their needs.

"Charities shouldn't feel they have to use every social media channel available," she said, "Theyshould be clear about the audiences they need to engage with to meet their strategic objectives,and chose the channels, messages and types of activities that will work for those audiences andfit with the charity's work and culture."

Although Twitter is an increasingly popular way for charities to communicate with potentialdonors, it's online video where most feel they can best make their case. Harrison noted that thetrick to making a compelling case in 140 characters is to include a link to a three-to-four minutevideo.

Of those charities surveyed by Barnes and Mattson, 41% used online video. Harrison agreedthat video was by far the best way to tell a story online.

"The ability of sites like YouTube to embed is especially important to charities," said Harrison,"Supporters can embed it on their sites and it becomes part of their identity. It lets them showeveryone else that this is a cause they support."

Plus, activists and supporters can embed those videos on their own sites, helping to spreadthem virally.

"If a video is funny and engaging, people respond more than they do to the standard PSA modelthat we've seen on TV for years," said Ramya Raghavan, YouTube's non-profits and activismmanager. "Video has this amazing power to compel someone to want to take action in a way

that just reading text wouldn't. But non-profits have to up their game since so many users haveinteresting videos."

Raghavan cited her personal favorite video, a clip put out by Haagen Daz to draw attention tothe problem of disappearing honeybees, as an example of a video that drew attention to animportant issue in a memorable, entertaining way.
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Raising Money

Non-profits' attempts to engage potential donors through social media are paying off in somecases.

"Social media are still largely unproven for mass-market fundraising, although there are some

examples, like TweetsGiving and Twestival, which provide an indication of the future potential ofthese channels," said Beer. "Their real power will be realized when charities have built up someexperience about what works, get better at integrating their various messages, activities andmedia -- on and offline -- and begin to use them more strategically."

Charity: Water's featured video on YouTube resulted in approximately $10,000 in donations,enough to build two brand new wells in the Central African Republic that will provide over 150people with clean drinking water for 20 years. On a typical day, Harrison said that Charity:Water receives several thousand dollars in donations. The day of the Call-to-Action video wasespecially heavy, due to the public attention the charity received on World Water Day, butHarrison said that about half of the day's $20,000 in donations could be attributed to the

YouTube feature.

"There's a little more of a back and forth than watching on TV," said Raghavan. "We see thatpeople want to use YouTube because of the opportunity for interactivity. It turns passivewatchers into active workers."

The instantaneous nature of social media is a boon for charities that often must not onlyconvince a potential donor that a charity is worthwhile but must also keep them convinced longenough to actually donate. While TV appeals may tug at viewers' heartstrings, many forget whatthey've seen before they can make time to make a contribution.

James Norris of Social Uproar, a blog that monitors charity use of social media, posted a list ofsuggestions for charities hoping to encourage donations with online video, including:

> Watch and research other charities' videos> Make your video interesting> Include a call to action at the end> Seed the video using relevant keywords and descriptions> Let your user base know that the video exists by sending out an email with a link to the video> Once you have the embed code seed it on social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace,blogs, etc.)> Encourage people to share the video

Beer suggested that charities "Think strategically, update regularly, engage personally, betransparent and be yourself."

For Harrison, the advice for charities using social media was even simpler: "Just do good workand produce quality content."

Rosen-Molina, Mike. How Charities Harness Social Media to Raise Awareness, Money. Media

Shift PBS. 28 April 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.
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Why not call it a Facebook revolution?

Chris Taylor February 24, 2011

Tunisians filled the streets with the help of Twitter. Egypt's protests were coordinated onFacebook pages like that of internet activist Wael Ghonim. Libyan dissenters spread the wordabout their "day of rage" last week the same way.

And yet, in these heady days where the entire Middle East seems to be inspired to organizeonline in revolt against autocracy, it has become fashionable for experts to dismiss the role ofsocial media in 2011's revolutions.

"People protested and brought down governments before Facebook was invented," the NewYorker's Malcolm Gladwell opined on February 2. A few weeks later, The Financial Times'Gideon Rachman reminded us that "the French managed to storm the Bastille without the helpof Twitter -- and the Bolsheviks took the Winter Palace without pausing to post photos of eachother on Facebook."

True enough -- and utterly irrelevant. Those uprisings had a strong assist from contemporarytechnology too. The Bolshevik revolution would hardly have happened without the telegraphsand trains that spirited Lenin to the Finland station at the right moment. And what would theFrench revolution have been without the latest high-tech gadget, hot from the workshop of Dr.Joseph Guillotin?

Yes, of course, technology alone doesn't make revolutions. The will of the people is the most vitalingredient. To foment revolt, first let their resentment simmer for a few decades. But thatdoesn't mean social media cannot provide wavering revolutionaries with vital aid and comfort.

Remember the kids interviewed in Tahir Square the night Mubarak resigned? What struck memost was what they were doing while waiting for the reporter to finish his introduction:thumbing on their smartphones. Want to hazard a guess at the website they were checking?

Consider what Facebook is: It's the internet, refined and focused like a laser beam that bouncesoff you and your acquaintances with unsurpassed speed. None of its features are particularlynew. They're tried and tested. We've been sharing instant messages, blog-like daily details andrants, and coordinating projects and meetups online since those Tahir Square kids were babes inarms.

We've just never done all that in the same place, in front of so many of our friends, for hours at atime. We've never created a club that's half a billion people strong and growing faster than ever,a club with room in it for literally any point of view. And we've certainly never carried that clubin our pockets, around the world.

Consider what else that makes Facebook: Democracy in action, or at least the closest thing wesee in our daily lives. A cacophony of viewpoints explode out of the briefest statements. Could

you imagine how many comments you'd get on your Facebook wall in the next 10 minutes if youposted "I


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Now imagine you're a dictator trying to infiltrate those acres of free speech. Can't be done. Whowants to friend a Libyan secret policeman? (Ask your pals, they probably now think you areone.) Keeping a beady eye on who said what to whom in this cacophony could take a lifetime.

You could, of course, shut down the entire internet. Mubarak tried that, and it quickly becameapparent that he'd also cut off the country's lifeblood: commerce and tourism.

Or you could do what China has done for the last two years, and block access to Twitter andFacebook specifically. In which case, you draw attention to their power, and give rise tohomegrown copycats (such as Renren.com and Kaixin001, in China's case.)

Gladwell is right to argue that only strong social ties create revolutions. But he is wrong to saythat Twitter and Facebook constitute weak social ties. He may believe this because he is a highlyproductive writer, and may never have been sucked into a two-hour Facebook hole.

Those of us who have know what it's like down there. It isn't some kind of vapid virtual barscene. Okay, there is an element of that: The sense of perpetual party is what draws so manythere in the first place. But what keeps us there is the fact that barriers between friends -- lack oftime, too much distance, lazy years-long silences -- are annihilated.

Post a quick dumb comment on an old estranged friend's status update, and the next thing youknow you're trading viewpoints like college roommates. Start a Facebook group for your passionproject, and realize you were never alone in wanting to make your ideal real.

It is impossible to live in that kind of environment -- and make no mistake, we are starting tolive there -- without noticing how much the real world fails to measure up. As Facebookcontinues to spread -- the trend line suggests it will reach 3 billion users, or roughly half theplanet, by 2017 -- more and more monolithic cultures are in for a shock.

True, not all of them are Middle East-style powder kegs. But sparks can ignite in all sorts ofways. For example, the fastest-growing segment of Facebook users is women over 55. Thinkwhat a smart, self-aware network of grandmas could do for the world's poorest regions.

So perhaps there is one reason not to call events in Egypt and its ilk a Facebook revolution. Thereal Facebook revolution is global, and it's only just getting geared up.

Taylor, Chris. Why Not Call It a Facebook Revolution? CNN. 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

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