The internet grows up:

Recent history has proven many new ways the internet can be used.  In February 2011 Hany Rashwan published an article in the Ohio State University student newspaper The Lantern in which he discussed the influence of the internet in the recent revolution in Egypt.

It wasn’t long ago that the idea of an Egypt free of the dictatorial government of Hosni Mubarak would be considered crazy. And yet starting in January 2011 the people of Egypt, inspired by the Arab Spring uprising in Tunisia  gathered in Tahrir Square to demand that Mubarak step down. Rashwan’s article sought to answer the question Why now? What was the catalyst for this sudden uprising? Rashwan found the most compelling answer in a quote from Wael Ghonim a middle eastern  google executive who created a facebook group that was behind some of the protests. Ghonim said “If you want to liberate a government, give them the internet.”

 

The internet has grown up. What started as a computer science experiment by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1950’s, has grown to be a border-less international democracy used across the globe for a variety of purposes. The internet of today provides truly worldwide access to everything from shopping for any product imaginable. And to countless hours of entertainment in every form imaginable. But most importantly to connecting people worldwide to people and ideas in ways unimaginable a couple decades ago. By making connections to neighbors both down the street and across the globe, the internet enables people unparalleled freedom to promote ideas like a government based on self determination. It isn’t surprising then that one of the first things the Egyptian government did to squash popular dissent was to shut down websites like Facebook and Twitter. While the technology for these websites started in America, the content and sharing during Egypt’s revolution was Egyptian. The internet as it stands today is the world’s most powerful democracy. Any person or group can promote their ideas within its framework. And in true democratic fashion popular ideas like self government can flourish. While less popular ideas like holocaust denial groups are allowed space, but are pushed into the margins. The internet has evolved from a government and college research project to a wild west of people attempting to monetize it, to where it stands today as a virtual world containing pieces of every facet of human life.  
In my lifetime I have seen the internet grow from a distraction for serious computer nerds to become the primary place where I do homework, talk with the people I love regardless of our location, and buy most everything except food. I am truly amazed to see that the internet need only connect the right people with the right ideas to be a huge factor in bringing positive change to our world. Hany Rashwan presents a concise and well developed article on the awesome power that can be achieved by merely providing people of the world unfettered access to communicate ideas across the globe. Rashwan's article is effective because it is a call to students of Ohio State to pay attention to the power of the internet. Our civilization is just beginning to see the internet as more than a way to share pornography and pirate music and movies. The internet of the twenty teens is starting to look more grown up. It’s use by different groups in the upcoming American presidential election makes it second in importance only to the people doing the voting. A big part of the power of the internet is in that it doesn't forget. This has been illustrated numerous times lately by the videos that have surfaced, showing candidates making unpopular statements often before they became candidates.
The Arab Spring revolutions throughout the Arab world would not have been possible without modern technology. While there have been revolutions before the recent ones, I see the key difference being that information enabled recent revolutions to be relatively peaceful. By sharing information across the country and the world, Egyptians were able to empower people to stand up for themselves without resorting to a violent civil war. This provides an awesome amount of hope for the future. A future where wars and revolutions are fought online through informing the masses. What an awesome future that can be.