As we have all witnessed, the social media and networking revolution which we are all a part of has fundamentally changed the way communication happens and the way information and news are disseminated. The ability to communicate instantly to hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people via Facebook, Twitter etc... is one of the most significant technological developments of our generation. Certainly the technology can be, and unfortunately has been, used to a large extent for frivolous and selfish ego-fulfilling purposes. But the potential is there for it to be used to organize and integrate movements locally and across the globe to work for the meaningful change which is increasingly necessary.
This potential has already been realized in sweeping and dramatic ways. This year the Middle East experienced what is being coined "the Arab Spring" in which nations across the region saw their citizens taking to the streets in massive demonstrations to demand reform from their repressive governments. This wave of rebellion has led to the overthrow of governments in Egypt and Tunisia, sustained rebellion in Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, the very unfortunate case of civil war in Libya, and minor protests in other nations across the region including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Sudan.
The ability of the people of these countries to organize and sustain protests on such an grand scale is largely due to social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, and similar sites allowed the protesters to organize mass amounts of people instantly and to relay information about police/military movements on the ground as the protests moved along. Arguably, these constitute the first social networking revolutions. Despite the regrettable violence experienced in many of these countries, the Arab Spring represents at least a glimmer of hope for the use of social networking/media to resist oppression and injustice.
Unfortunately, but inevitably, the powers that be in this country have taken notice of the quickness and efficiency with which these rebellions took place and social networking's hand in their successes.
The Pentagon has undertaken measures to detect and counter "propaganda" on social networking sites which it sees as threatening to the interests of the United States. While the Pentagon's request for research into this new "science" of social media alludes to monitoring activities on social networking sites in order to control political outcomes in other countries (specifically the middle east), it opens the door for the monitoring and manipulation of elements within our own country deemed "threatening".
Historically, these threatening elements, as deemed by the Pentagon, include liberals and progressives, activists and academics, and anyone fighting the status-quo (i.e. the corporate state, military industrial complex, political conservatism, etc...). To read a full article on the Pentagon's request please follow this link http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/22-0.
Precedents such as this effect us all, and as members of the global social networking community we should all be aware of their implications.