I’m intrigued by the potential power of social media to organize people and virally broadcast information so expeditiously that the reactive force can surmount during the human emotional response, before we’re distracted from competing thoughts and obligations. If social media is responsible for the protests in Cairo, I can only imagine other examples of how social media could lead us to an age of perpetual innovation and accountability. 

In Egypt, perhaps it was temptation or coercion that was too insurmountable resulting in the decisions that have provoked such opposition.  But now that more people have access to viral broadcasting, its possible that in those moments when we’re making our decisions, instead of being overly persuaded by desire or coercion, and feeling like we have no effective community from which to seek assistance, we make our decisions in a world where an internet connection provides us the freedom to hurl ourselves into the safety of dependable, reliable, social networks, interconnected in ways that encourage awareness, understanding and acceptance.

Social Media could lead to the realization of a truer democracy in which we all have the ability to share the information, knowledge and wisdom we have accumulated through our experiences to come to a more complete common awareness. If awareness and understanding lead to the conquering of fear and intolerance, its also the route to avoiding the causes and effects of revolutions throughout history. 

As an urbanist, designer, and eco-social community advocate, I crave the ability to incorporate social media into the public involvement processes of our government. To develop a process in which we can more effectively and more conveniently participate would manage our resources more efficiently and provide us more utility. The time and money invested in public involvement and design would be more effectively applied to the solutions desired by a more collective majority. Accumulated desire leads to accumulated appreciation, sustaining the energy invested in developing the solution and freeing resources for innovation. Social Media could provide us the ability to have a truer democracy, where more decisions are made with collective wisdom and participation.

If you have examples of social media in public involvement or government, please share. 

~J.S.