Facebook, Twitter and their peers undoubtedly revolutionized the way the world communicates, and have already proved integral in precipitating popular unrest in oppressive nations, like Tunisia, where Twitter most recently helped take down longtime leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Clearly these trends have certain governments shaking in their proverbial boots, which explains why Mubarak ordered Internet provers across his country to hit the “kill switch” to shut down Facebook and Twitter.
Though the revolution succeeded in expanding freedom here—and inspired similar movements the world over—the “universal” democratic ideals inherent in the colonial rebellion were never fully realized, a fact made clear by colonialism in Africa and, more recently, the continued denial of equal rights for LGBT people.
In that light, the men and women behind social media are more than just entrepreneurs. They are the 21st centuries answer to the Founding Fathers—MySpace, I suppose, would be a “founding grandfather”—by giving new life to three-century-old ideals.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone this week wrote a blog post called “The Tweets Must Flow,” in which he insisted, “Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them. For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential.”
Read more here
