It has been fascinating watching events unfold in Egypt and of all the quotes this one from The Guardian summed up best, for me, what was remarkable:
“For 18 days we have withstood teargas, rubber bullets, live ammunition, Molotov cocktails, thugs on horseback, the scepticism and fear of our loved ones, and the worst sort of ambivalence from an international community that claims to care about democracy,” said Karim Medhat Ennarah, a protester with tears in his eyes. “But we held our ground. We did it”
One of the most interesting things about Egypt was what can be achieved by vast numbers of people with no overt leadership or common ideology if they get hacked off enough with the status quo. The arguments as to how much impact the web and Twitter had on events will run and run. For me it is not so much that the tools brought about these changes but that they were happening anyway and we have tools that maybe made them happen a little bit faster and easier.
The issue of control, or rather perceived loss of it, is one that comes up all the time in talking about enterprise use of social tools. It fascinates me that those asking the question feel so apprehensive. What are they so afraid of? Will their employees really run amuck if given access to Facebook at work? Do people only put in productive days’ work because management are keeping them under control? And anyway – do those “in charge” of organisations really have that much control – or do they just have the outward appearance of it?
Control is diffucult to maintain if enough people want things to change – even if you resort to the threat of violence. Authority on other hand can be earned and enhanced through influence. How about trying to increase your influence through the use of social tools rather than banning them? If you are worried about security why not start blogging about why security matters and how to be secure? If you are concerned about time wasting start a forum discussion on productivity and what it looks and feels like?
Mubarak faced an apparently unstoppable desire for change. I believe that many businesses will face the same desire over the next few years. Not caused by social tools but enhanced by them. Maybe Mubarak might have lasted longer if he had had a better social media policy – maybe you will too?
The Obvious? 
Excellent post Euan.
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I'd love to share your optimism but as I understand it, it was the army that forced Mubarak out…the same army that put him in power. So how much change will there be? Or rather how much bloodshed before there is change. Time will tell but these things rarely have happy endings.
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They forced him out as a result of pressure – not sure they would have done it without that pressure. I do agree though that it is far from a done deal.
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I think all organisations want order, or orderliness, or efficiency of process. Some think this can only be achieved through control. The new way is self-order-ing through social mechanisms: facilitating the possibility for people to behave less like footsoldiers and more like bees or ants. It can take some explaining, and some may never see it.
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And you are spot on that we are not talking about dis-order as so many think.
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what struck me is the similarity to what happened in eastern Europe. Popular demonstrations in the face of authoritarian regimes; one trigger event (East Germany then – we have friends in Leipzig – and Tunisia now) and then the whole house of cards. Clearly other countries are following, as happened in eastern Europe – even Iran etc. How far will it go?And from the social media perspective: even the attempt to close down communications channels didn't stop the tide.
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Interesting. Mentioned here as part of a broader post on the impact of social media on history (governments = done. organisations = next?)
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