Let's design social media that drives real change | Wael Ghonim

Summary

In a powerful reflection on social media's role in activism, the speaker recounts their experience during the Egyptian revolution, where a Facebook page they created united citizens against oppression. Despite its initial success, social media later fueled polarization and misinformation, leading to toxic online environments. They identify five critical challenges, including echo chambers and the spread of rumors, emphasizing the need to redesign social media to promote civility and meaningful conversations. Ultimately, the speaker advocates for liberating the Internet to liberate society, highlighting the potential for constructive dialogue on divisive issues.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The Internet has immense potential for social change, but it also has significant limitations.
• 📅 The Arab Spring showcased social media's power to mobilize people but later highlighted its role in polarization.
• 👥 Personal experiences, like witnessing the death of Khaled Said, can inspire individuals to engage in activism online.
• 🚀 Social media facilitated a decentralized movement during the Egyptian revolution, enabling collective action.
• ⚔️ Post-revolution, social media contributed to societal division and the spread of misinformation and hate speech.
• 🛑 The environment on social media became toxic, filled with trolls and aggressive rhetoric.
• 📉 Human behavior drives polarization, but social media technology amplifies these impulses.
• 🔍 There are five critical challenges facing today's social media: handling rumors, echo chambers, mob mentality, opinion rigidity, and the focus on broadcasting over engagement.
• 💬 There is a need to redesign social media experiences to promote civility and meaningful discussions.
• 🔄 Acknowledging and rewarding changes in opinion could foster more thoughtful interactions on social media.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial belief about the role of the Internet in liberating society?

The speaker initially believed that all one needed to liberate a society was the Internet, a view they expressed in 2011.

How did social media contribute to the Arab Spring according to the speaker?

Social media united people and provided a platform for collective action, helping to spark the Egyptian revolution by connecting individuals who aspired for political change.

What incident motivated the speaker to become politically active?

The speaker was motivated to become politically active after seeing a horrifying photo of Khaled Said, a young Egyptian who was killed by police, which made them realize the urgent need for change.

What was the purpose of the Facebook page 'We are all Khaled Said'?

The Facebook page aimed to raise awareness about police brutality, rally support for protests, and create a sense of community among those seeking change in Egypt.

What was the significance of January 25, 2011, in Egypt?

January 25, 2011, marked the day when Egyptians flooded the streets to protest for change, inspired by the successful protests in Tunisia.

What challenges did the speaker face after becoming an activist?

The speaker faced significant challenges, including being kidnapped by state security, fearing for their family's safety, and grappling with the increasing polarization and toxicity of online discussions.

What led to the speaker's decision to go silent for over two years?

The speaker decided to go silent due to feelings of defeat and the need to reflect on the failures of the post-revolution period, especially the rise of polarization in society.

What are the five critical challenges facing social media today, according to the speaker?

The five challenges are: dealing with rumors, creating echo chambers, online discussions devolving into angry mobs, the difficulty of changing opinions, and the design of social media favoring broadcasting over engagement.

What does the speaker propose to improve social media interactions?

The speaker proposes redesigning social media experiences to promote civility, reward thoughtful discussions, and encourage users to engage with differing viewpoints rather than only broadcasting their own opinions.

What project did the speaker start to explore solutions to the challenges of social media?

The speaker and their friends started a new media platform aimed at hosting conversations that promote mutual understanding and tackle divisive issues, with the goal of encouraging meaningful dialogue.

Outlines

00:00

📱 The Power and Pitfalls of Social Media in Activism

In this part, the speaker reflects on their earlier belief that the Internet alone could liberate society, a notion they reconsider after witnessing the complexities of social media during the Egyptian revolution. They recount their journey from an apolitical individual to an activist after the tragic death of Khaled Said, which motivated them to create the Facebook page 'We are all Khaled Said.' This platform quickly garnered a massive following, uniting Egyptians in their desire for change and ultimately contributing to the protests that led to President Mubarak's ousting. However, the speaker also highlights the darker side of social media, noting how it can facilitate misinformation, create echo chambers, and incite polarization. They share their personal challenges during this tumultuous time, including their own kidnapping by state security, and emphasize the urgent need to address these issues for effective social change.

05:03

⚖️ Navigating the Challenges of Social Media

The speaker identifies five significant challenges facing social media today: dealing with rumors that align with personal biases, the creation of echo chambers that isolate individuals from differing viewpoints, the escalation of online discussions into hostile exchanges, the difficulty of changing opinions due to the permanence of online statements, and the design of platforms that favor broadcasting over meaningful dialogue. They express concern that these challenges have led to increased polarization in Egyptian society and globally. The speaker emphasizes the need for a fundamental redesign of social media experiences to promote civility, encourage thoughtful engagement, and reward meaningful conversations. They argue that current dynamics incentivize sensationalism over substance, calling for a shift towards fostering understanding and dialogue among users.

10:05

🌍 Rethinking the Role of the Internet in Society

In this concluding section, the speaker presents their belief that to liberate society, we must first liberate the Internet from the less noble aspects of human behavior that hinder constructive discourse. They introduce a new project aimed at exploring solutions to the problems identified earlier, focusing on creating a media platform that hosts conversations on divisive issues such as race, gun control, and the intersection of Islam and terrorism. The speaker asserts that with one in three people on the planet having Internet access, there exists immense potential to shape public discourse positively. They advocate for designing social media that rewards thoughtful engagement and allows for the possibility of changing one's mind, emphasizing that a healthier digital ecosystem is essential for fostering mutual understanding and overcoming polarization.

Keywords

💡Internet

The Internet is a global network that facilitates communication and information sharing. In the video, the speaker reflects on their initial belief that the Internet alone could liberate society, highlighting its potential to unite people during the Arab Spring. However, they also recognize that the Internet can amplify divisiveness and misinformation, showing its dual role as both a tool for empowerment and a source of conflict.

💡Social Media

Social media platforms enable users to create and share content, fostering community engagement. The speaker describes how social media helped mobilize Egyptians during the revolution, allowing people to connect and organize protests against oppressive regimes. Despite its benefits, the speaker warns of the challenges social media presents, such as echo chambers and the spread of false information.

💡Activism

Activism refers to efforts aimed at promoting or impeding social, political, or economic change. The speaker shares their personal journey into activism, triggered by witnessing injustice, which led them to create the Facebook page 'We are all Khaled Said.' This activism played a crucial role in rallying people for the revolution, showcasing the power of grassroots movements.

💡Polarization

Polarization describes the growing divide between opposing groups in society. The speaker observes that the aftermath of the revolution saw increasing polarization between different factions, such as army supporters and Islamists. They explain how social media exacerbated this divide by facilitating the spread of misinformation and hate speech, transforming online interactions into hostile environments.

💡Misinformation

Misinformation refers to false or misleading information that is spread regardless of intent. The speaker highlights the role of misinformation in fueling polarization during and after the revolution, illustrating how false narratives can undermine trust and escalate conflict. The toxic online environment, characterized by rumors and lies, became a battleground for competing ideologies.

💡Echo Chambers

Echo chambers are environments where individuals are exposed only to information that reinforces their existing beliefs. The speaker discusses how social media enables users to curate their experiences, leading to isolation from differing viewpoints. This phenomenon contributed to the inability to engage in constructive dialogue, further deepening societal divides.

💡Engagement

Engagement in this context refers to meaningful interactions between users on social media. The speaker critiques the design of current social media platforms, which favor broadcasting opinions over fostering conversations. They advocate for an approach that encourages thoughtful discussions and mutual understanding, emphasizing the need for more enriching engagement in online spaces.

💡Civility

Civility denotes respectful and courteous behavior in discourse. The speaker stresses the importance of civility in online interactions, arguing that current social media designs often promote anger and sensationalism instead. They suggest redesigning these platforms to reward civil discourse, which is vital for bridging divides and promoting understanding.

💡Fact-Checking

Fact-checking is the process of verifying information to prevent the spread of falsehoods. The speaker emphasizes the necessity of effective crowdsourcing mechanisms for fact-checking widely circulated content online. By rewarding individuals who engage in fact-checking, the speaker believes it could help combat misinformation and foster a more informed public.

💡Liberation

Liberation refers to the act of setting someone free from oppression or restrictions. The speaker initially believed that the Internet could lead to societal liberation, drawing on its role in facilitating the Arab Spring. However, they conclude that true liberation requires freeing the Internet from the negative aspects of human behavior that hinder constructive dialogue and understanding.

Highlights

The speaker reflects on their statement from 2011: 'If you want to liberate a society, all you need is the Internet,' acknowledging its inaccuracy.

The creation of the Facebook page 'We are all Khaled Said' played a pivotal role in sparking the Egyptian revolution.

The Arab Spring demonstrated both the potential and shortcomings of social media in facilitating societal change.

In the early 2000s, many Arabs turned to the Internet seeking knowledge and connection beyond their political realities.

The death of Khaled Said at the hands of police motivated the speaker to take action and initiate the Facebook page.

The page quickly amassed over 100,000 followers, uniting Egyptians around a common concern for justice.

Social media facilitated a decentralized movement, empowering people to realize they were not alone in their quest for change.

The speaker organized a protest on January 25, 2011, leading to a mass uprising in Egypt against the regime.

After being kidnapped by state security for 11 days, the speaker was released just before Mubarak's resignation.

The initial 18 days of the revolution fostered a sense of unity and hope among Egyptians for a new, inclusive society.

Post-revolution, political struggles led to increased polarization and a toxic online environment filled with misinformation and hate.

The speaker identified five critical challenges facing social media: rumors, echo chambers, mob mentality, difficulty changing opinions, and prioritization of broadcasting.

Social media's design encourages sensationalism, leading to shallow interactions rather than meaningful conversations.

The need for social media platforms to promote civility and thoughtful discourse is emphasized as essential for reducing polarization.

The speaker advocates for systems that reward constructive engagement and the ability to change one’s mind as part of the social media experience.

The speaker and their friends launched a new project aimed at fostering conversations on divisive issues to promote understanding.

The call to action is clear: to liberate society, we must first liberate the Internet from the less noble aspects of human behavior.

Transcripts

I once said,

"If you want to liberate a society,

all you need is the Internet."

I was wrong.

I said those words back in 2011,

when a Facebook page I anonymously created

helped spark the Egyptian revolution.

The Arab Spring revealed social media's greatest potential,

but it also exposed its greatest shortcomings.

The same tool that united us to topple dictators

eventually tore us apart.

I would like to share my own experience in using social media for activism,

and talk about some of the challenges I have personally faced

and what we could do about them.

In the early 2000s,

Arabs were flooding the web.

Thirsty for knowledge, for opportunities,

for connecting with the rest of the people around the globe,

we escaped our frustrating political realities

and lived a virtual, alternative life.

Just like many of them, I was completely apolitical until 2009.

At the time, when I logged into social media,

I started seeing more and more Egyptians

aspiring for political change in the country.

It felt like I was not alone.

In June 2010,

Internet changed my life forever.

While browsing Facebook,

I saw a photo, a terrifying photo, of a tortured, dead body

of a young Egyptian guy.

His name was Khaled Said.

Khaled was a 29-year-old Alexandrian who was killed by police.

I saw myself in his picture.

I thought, "I could be Khaled."

I could not sleep that night, and I decided to do something.

I anonymously created a Facebook page

and called it "We are all Khaled Said."

In just three days, the page had over 100,000 people,

fellow Egyptians who shared the same concern.

Whatever was happening had to stop.

I recruited my co-admin, AbdelRahman Mansour.

We worked together for hours and hours.

We were crowdsourcing ideas from the people.

We were engaging them.

We were calling collectively for actions,

and sharing news that the regime did not want Egyptians to know.

The page became the most followed page

in the Arab world.

It had more fans than established media organizations

and even top celebrities.

On January 14, 2011,

Ben Ali fled out of Tunisia

after mounting protests against his regime.

I saw a spark of hope.

Egyptians on social media were wondering,

"If Tunisia did it, why can't we?"

I posted an event on Facebook and called it

"A Revolution against Corruption, Injustice and Dictatorship."

I posed a question to the 300,000 users of the page at the time:

"Today is the 14th of January.

The 25th of January is Police Day.

It's a national holiday.

If 100,000 of us take to the streets of Cairo,

no one is going to stop us.

I wonder if we could do it."

In just a few days, the invitation reached over a million people,

and over 100,000 people confirmed attendance.

Social media was crucial for this campaign.

It helped a decentralized movement arise.

It made people realize that they were not alone.

And it made it impossible for the regime to stop it.

At the time, they didn't even understand it.

And on January 25th, Egyptians flooded the streets of Cairo and other cities,

calling for change,

breaking the barrier of fear

and announcing a new era.

Then came the consequences.

A few hours before the regime cut off the Internet and telecommunications,

I was walking in a dark street in Cairo, around midnight.

I had just tweeted, "Pray for Egypt.

The government must be planning a massacre tomorrow."

I was hit hard on my head.

I lost my balance and fell down,

to find four armed men surrounding me.

One covered my mouth and the others paralyzed me.

I knew I was being kidnapped by state security.

I found myself in a cell,

handcuffed, blindfolded.

I was terrified.

So was my family,

who started looking for me

in hospitals, police stations and even morgues.

After my disappearance,

a few of my fellow colleagues who knew I was the admin of the page

told the media about my connection with that page,

and that I was likely arrested by state security.

My colleagues at Google started a search campaign trying to find me,

and the fellow protesters in the square demanded my release.

After 11 days of complete darkness,

I was set free.

And three days later,

Mubarak was forced to step down.

It was the most inspiring and empowering moment of my life.

It was a time of great hope.

Egyptians lived a utopia for 18 days during the revolution.

They all shared the belief

that we could actually live together despite our differences,

that Egypt after Mubarak would be for all.

But unfortunately,

the post-revolution events were like a punch in the gut.

The euphoria faded,

we failed to build consensus,

and the political struggle led to intense polarization.

Social media only amplified that state,

by facilitating the spread of misinformation, rumors,

echo chambers and hate speech.

The environment was purely toxic.

My online world became a battleground filled with trolls, lies, hate speech.

I started to worry about the safety of my family.

But of course, this wasn't just about me.

The polarization reached its peak between the two main powers --

the army supporters and the Islamists.

People in the center, like me,

started feeling helpless.

Both groups wanted you to side with them;

you were either with them or against them.

And on the 3rd of July 2013,

the army ousted Egypt's first democratically elected president,

after three days of popular protest that demanded his resignation.

That day I made a very hard decision.

I decided to go silent, completely silent.

It was a moment of defeat.

I stayed silent for more than two years,

and I used the time to reflect on everything that happened,

trying to understand why did it happen.

It became clear to me

that while it's true that polarization is primarily driven

by our human behavior,

social media shapes this behavior and magnifies its impact.

Say you want to say something that is not based on a fact,

pick a fight or ignore someone that you don't like.

These are all natural human impulses,

but because of technology,

acting on these impulses is only one click away.

In my view, there are five critical challenges

facing today's social media.

First, we don't know how to deal with rumors.

Rumors that confirm people's biases

are now believed and spread among millions of people.

Second, we create our own echo chambers.

We tend to only communicate with people that we agree with,

and thanks to social media,

we can mute, un-follow and block everybody else.

Third, online discussions quickly descend into angry mobs.

All of us probably know that.

It's as if we forget

that the people behind screens are actually real people

and not just avatars.

And fourth, it became really hard to change our opinions.

Because of the speed and brevity of social media,

we are forced to jump to conclusions

and write sharp opinions in 140 characters

about complex world affairs.

And once we do that, it lives forever on the Internet,

and we are less motivated to change these views,

even when new evidence arises.

Fifth -- and in my point of view, this is the most critical --

today, our social media experiences are designed in a way

that favors broadcasting over engagements,

posts over discussions,

shallow comments over deep conversations.

It's as if we agreed that we are here to talk at each other

instead of talking with each other.

I witnessed how these critical challenges contributed

to an already polarized Egyptian society,

but this is not just about Egypt.

Polarization is on the rise in the whole world.

We need to work hard on figuring out

how technology could be part of the solution,

rather than part of the problem.

There's a lot of debate today on how to combat online harassment

and fight trolls.

This is so important.

No one could argue against that.

But we need to also think about how to design social media experiences

that promote civility and reward thoughtfulness.

I know for a fact

if I write a post that is more sensational,

more one-sided, sometimes angry and aggressive,

I get to have more people see that post.

I will get more attention.

But what if we put more focus on quality?

What is more important:

the total number of readers of a post you write,

or who are the people who have impact that read what you write?

Couldn't we just give people more incentives to engage in conversations,

rather than just broadcasting opinions all the time?

Or reward people for reading

and responding to views that they disagree with?

And also, make it socially acceptable that we change our minds,

or probably even reward that?

What if we have a matrix that says how many people changed their minds,

and that becomes part of our social media experience?

If I could track how many people are changing their minds,

I'd probably write more thoughtfully, trying to do that,

rather than appealing to the people who already agree with me

and "liking" because I just confirmed their biases.

We also need to think about effective crowdsourcing mechanisms,

to fact-check widely spread online information,

and reward people who take part in that.

In essence, we need to rethink today's social media ecosystem

and redesign its experiences

to reward thoughtfulness, civility and mutual understanding.

As a believer in the Internet, I teamed up with a few friends,

started a new project,

trying to find answers and explore possibilities.

Our first product is a new media platform for conversations.

We're hosting conversations that promote mutual understanding

and hopefully change minds.

We don't claim to have the answers,

but we started experimenting with different discussions

about very divisive issues,

such as race, gun control, the refugee debate,

relationship between Islam and terrorism.

These are conversations that matter.

Today, at least one out of three people on the planet

have access to the Internet.

But part of this Internet is being held captive

by the less noble aspects of our human behavior.

Five years ago, I said,

"If you want to liberate society,

all you need is the Internet."

Today, I believe if we want to liberate society,

we first need to liberate the Internet.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)