A few weeks ago I wrote about the affects of facebook on political issues. In our class now, we are discussing the topic of new media and politics, although the article we read for last class was somewhat behind the times and focused on Myspace rather than facebook. In terms of the revolution in Egypt, facebook has seemed to play an important role. I'm curious though, how influential a facebook page or group can really be?
Recently on facebook, there was a group calling for a 3rd Intifada. The group had been calling on a march to Israel to "liberate" Palestine beginning on May 15th. I checked out the facebook page myself, where I found it to be written all in Arabic, but thanks to google translate I was able to read the comments that supporters were posting. I must admit, it did worry me. There were many comments made such as "Death to Israel" and the like. As a result of facebook group, many people reported the page, which was finally shut down by facebook today. I'm happy the page was taken down, it is scary to see such hateful things written so publicly and supported by so many people especially on facebook, a place that you think is a safe environment. However, at the same time, I wonder how far this facebook page would have gone if it was not taken down. I think something very scary and dangerous could have come out of it, but some argue that facebook is not really all that influential. Just something to think about...
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