NPR released a podcast February 9th, 2012 about Wael Ghonim. The podcast and article is titled, ” Wael Ghonim: Creating A “Revolution 2.0” In Egypt. This article and podcast focuses on Wael, an Egyptian Activist who became the public face of the revolution. In Revolution 2.0 Wael explains how his facebook page, “We Are All Khaled Said” influenced the Egyptian community and what consequences he faced with this facebook page as well as providing an insider’s account on what he experienced during the Egyptian protests. The facebook page emerged after graphic pictures of a 28-year-old man (Khaled) who was killed by Egyptian security officials spread throughout the internet. The main goal for the facebook page was to reveal the bad practices of the Egyptian police.

Initially the page was run by “anonymous” but Wael revealed via the podcast that his identity was learned because he sent out an event update through his personal facebook page rather than through “anonymous.” Shortly after the Egyptian security officials found his identity, they kidnapped him and was repeatedly interrogated. Wael this entire time stayed true to his beliefs and was hurt by being called a “traitor.”

He told them “You can torture me as much as you want, but you’re not going to get this out of me because this is not true. I would prefer to die than to admit something I’ve never done, that I think is completely wrong.”

Wael’s disappearance spread on the internet and he returned from interrogation. After, Ghonim has been hailed for his efforts in the Egyptian Revolution. The fact that Wael utilized social media like Facebook and Twitter changed the way revolutionists and activists communicate. In our world today we are constantly encountering information via social networking sites. It is incredibly interesting to see how we are taking advantage of these sites like Facebook to disseminate information to the masses, but like Ghonim says at the end of the article, social networking is an available tool now to show change, but it cannot be the only tool in making change. I agree with Ghonim that relaying information needs to be spread through many different mediums; i.e. word of mouth, social networks and the change that has been made through revolution on the streets. A successful revolution can start with one person, but it is many who will make change. If social sites help raise concern and participation, then it most definitely should be taken advantage of.

Here is the link below:

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/09/146636605/wael-ghonim-creating-a-revolution-2-0-in-egypt