Access to information, rather than being for abstract analysis, is a call to action which in the past has been to the individual, but now can be across huge numbers who have no connection apart from the cause.
As the analysis of the dynamics of the changes occurring in Egypt emerges, it will be fascinating to watch the extent to which the analysis of the power of social tools as argued by Clay Shirky in “Here comes Everybody” are confirmed.
Shirky’s book, published 4 or 5 years ago does a great job of putting words around what we now see every day, people who do not know each other organising with the assistance of social tools. This can be as simple as two people meeting for the first time, using a phone to identify each other in a crowded café, to something more co-ordinated like the student protests at the behavior of HSBC , to the hundreds of thousands that gathered in Cairo’s main square demanding change.
Others who hold power by exercising autocratic control must be watching the revolution in Egypt, and carefully considering their Swiss bank accounts.
