Social media plays role in Egypt some expected in Iran



 (Photo of Egyptians in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt on Feb. 11, 2011: AP/Tara Todras-Whitehill. Photo taken by NBC correspondent Richard Engel and uploaded via Twitter)

Ghonim, a 30-year-old Google executive who became a symbol of the country's democratic uprising against Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime, replied with two words: "Ask Facebook."
"I want to meet [Facebook founder] Mark Zuckerberg one day and thank him, actually," Ghonim said.
Dictators are toppled by people, not by media platforms. But Egyptian activists, especially the young, clearly harnessed the power and potential of social media, leading to the mass mobilizations in Tahrir Square and throughout Egypt. The Mubarak regime recognized early on that social media could loosen its grip on power. The government began disrupting Facebook and Twitter as protesters hit the streets on Jan. 25 before shutting down the Internet two days later.
In addition to organizing, Egyptian activists used Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to share information and videos. Many of these digital offerings made the rounds online but were later amplified by Al Jazeera and news outlets around the world. "This revolution started online," Ghonim told Blitzer. "This revolution started on Facebook."