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The argument that “user-generated news” from untrained citizen journalists is not credible is a valid one. But, we’re still early here—and we’re headed in a new direction. Where it leads remains uncertain, but with each passing day, it favors you.
Kutcher vs. CNN
It was a modern-day David and Goliath. In April 2009, actor Ashton Kutcher posed a simple but historic challenge to CNN: “First to one million Twitter followers wins.”
With its international reach, multiple media outlets and veritable war chest, the smart money was on CNN. Kutcher was one man with a keyboard—and a few influential friends. Moreover, he was behind before the race even began. At the time of the challenge, Kutcher had 896,947 followers. CNN’s breaking news handle had 937,787.
On April 18th, Kutcher reached one million followers, hours ahead of CNN. His victory was a wake-up call to the world; social media had changed the game. The individual held power and influence the likes of which we had never seen.
“I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter,” Kutcher reportedly said.
Egypt: Revolution 2.0
“The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power.” —Wael Ghonim, widely-credited as a catalyst of the 2011 Egypt Revolution
The regime was trying to hold back a tsunami with its bare hands.
Egypt is an ancient civilization with a young population. Nearly two-thirds of Egyptians are under 30 years old. After years of oppression, they reached their tipping point.
As the sun rose to warm the day in Cairo on January 25, 2011, an estimated 25,000 people gathered in Tahrir Square. This would become the time and place of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution—one of the most extraordinary in history.
The BBC reported that within five days, 25,000 became 50,000. By February 1st, the number of protesters had swelled to over one million—peacefully, yet stoically, protesting the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.
In the nascent stages, Mubarak seemed curious, but cavalier. After all, he’d been in power for nearly 30 years.
His unconcern would be his undoing.
The Egyptian people had been oppressed for three decades, held hostage by a psychological barrier of fear. What Mubarak—and most of the world, for that matter—didn’t grasp was that the playing field had changed. Monumentally. The power balance had shifted. Dramatically.
Mubarak’s regime didn’t understand two key points about social media: 1) That connecting people breaks down the barrier of fear, and 2) That it could move messages and mobilize masses with blinding speed.
Cell phones and email might reach hundreds of people at a time. Twitter and Facebook reach hundreds of thousands. In hours. Those hundreds of thousands can reach millions. In days.
The Egyptian government made the grave miscalculation that they could quell this rebellion just as they had done before. But this time, nothing could contain the Egyptian people. They had the desire for change—and the tools to make it happen.
As 60 Minutes later reported, “Their revolution began not with terrorism and tanks, but with Twitter and texts … an aging autocrat who ruled as a modern pharaoh fell victim to those weapons of the young—out-organized and outmaneuvered by social media, by kids with keyboards.”
A thirty-something Google executive, Wael Ghonim, was an unlikely catalyst of the revolution. In June 2010, police brutally murdered a young Egyptian named Khaled Said, who had uploaded a video to YouTube showing blatant police corruption. Decades of such transgressions built an aura of invincibility among Egyptian police. Once again, they thought they would get away with it. They thought wrong.
Ghonim built a Facebook page titled: “We Are All Khaled Said.” It featured graphic, striking photos of Said’s death and attracted roughly 500,000 members. It struck a chord, and it provided one place for outraged Egyptians to go—to hear and to be heard. It gave them a voice in a society that denied them one. It began to erode the psychological barrier of fear that held them back for so many years.
On February 11, 2011, Mubarak officially stepped down. Imagine that. The dictator who clung to power through scandalous elections, corruption charges—and six attempts on his life—could not withstand the social-driven groundswell that flat-out overwhelmed him. After being in power for almost three decades, he was out…
In 18 days.
While social media did not create the conditions for a revolution, it accelerated it. The fuel was there. Social media merely ignited the fire and fanned the flames for the world to see.
As E.B. Boyd of Fast Company wrote: “Did Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube send people out into the streets? Of course not. Did they speed up the process of protest? Absolutely.”
Boyd further wrote:
There’s been some backlash in the last few days against the idea that either Tunisia or Egypt were brought on by Twitter or a “Facebook Revolution.” And certainly, it takes a lot more than the 21st century version of a communication system to persuade people to take to the streets and risk harm, imprisonment, or death. But that doesn’t mean social media didn’t play a role. It did. Given the magnitude of grievances in each country, revolt would almost certainly have come eventually. But social media simply made it come faster. It did so by playing a role in three main dynamics: Organizing protests … Shaping the narrative … [and] Putting pressure on Washington.
This speaks to a timeless truth of social media: It’s powerful. But, without people and passion, it’s powerless. Social media is not a silver bullet. Social media merely amplifies your message, your business or your cause. It doesn’t create, or save, them.
Social media has become an engine of humanity, jet-fueled by the irrepressible drive we each have for better business—and better lives. With social media, a privileged few no longer control the levers. You do. I do. We all do. That’s what makes it so thrilling.
My parents always told me I could change the world. I always believed it. Now I can do it. Social media makes good on that long-held promise.
Wael Ghonim is case in point.
If social media can embolden enough people, it can trigger a groundswell. If that groundswell gains momentum, it can achieve extraordinary results. This applies to you and your business just as it does to causes and world events.
Some people believe social media is a silly sideshow, the darling of the day, that it will pop like the dot-com bubble. While I concur that social media is frequently over-hyped, there’s a seminal difference here: The dot-com bubble was inflated by commerce and hot air. The social media movement is driven by communication and heart. While today’s titans—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIN—may be digital dust in two decades (ok, maybe not Facebook), social media as a communication platform will continue changing the world in profound, unforeseeable ways. Social media hasn’t changed one thing. It has changed everything.
One thing is for certain: It’s here to stay. Now, the question is: How can you ride the wave of social media now—so you can reap the rewards later? I’m glad you asked.
A Lay of the Land
Let’s grab a glass of Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque champagne, hop in a hot air balloon, soar silently upwards and look at social media from 3,000 feet, shall we? (Hey, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it in style!)
Social media can be confusing; this chapter will clarify