National revolutions, both bloody and peaceful ones, have usually been triggered by somewhat trivial gestures such as the tearing of “cedulas” by the Katipuneros in Balintawak and the dumping of £10,000 worth of tea, infamously known as the Boston Tea Party, from the holds of the ships of the British East India Party to the harbour by American patriots. In 2011, Social networking has elicited a firestorm of protests in Egypt caused by one of Google’s executives who paid dearly for his rebellious wall posts. If the pen is mightier than the sword, then tweeting and the like will definitely blow the nuclear bomb out of the water as seen in the Cairo situation.
Technology has indeed shaped the way we live our lives as well as integrated itself on how politics has been played. During the 2010 Presidential Elections, Facebook has played a vital role in disseminating a candidate’s platform to the populace and these aspirants have reaped the fruits of this cheap yet useful electoral campaign strategy. However, with these advantages come its drawbacks. Bloggers have almost unbridled access to constantly lambast the candidates with profanities that would make Hitler roll over his grave. This unrestricted freedom of speech has dilatory and destructive effects not only to its recipients but also to the character of its authors. Courtesy and respect must not be sacrificed because of this statutory right. Nonetheless, the truth must always be of primary importance in dispersing this information thru technology.
In Wael Ghonim’s case, I can safely surmise that his facebook posts have not crossed that line and have actually been an exercise of one’s political opinion. His use of technology is a clear example of how powerful the internet is, in this scenario, it was able to topple Egypt’s leader. We must, nevertheless, use this technology with great care and caution so that it would not cross the line of indecency and insurrection.
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