Wael Ghonim: Let's design social media that drives real change
وائل غنيم: لنصمم إعلاما اجتماعيا يقود تغييرا حقيقيا
Wael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it. Full bio
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social media's greatest potential,
إمكانيات مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي،
its greatest shortcomings.
أكبر قصور له.
to topple dictators
in using social media for activism,
في استخدام مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي للحراك،
I have personally faced
التي واجهتها شخصيا
of the people around the globe,
حول العالم،
political realities
I was completely apolitical until 2009.
حتى عام 2009.
into social media,
مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي،
in the country.
of a tortured, dead body
لجثة تم تعذيب صاحبها
who was killed by police.
تم قتله من قبل الشرطة.
and I decided to do something.
وقررت أن أفعل شيئا.
had over 100,000 people,
أكثر من 100 ألف شخص،
the same concern.
AbdelRahman Mansour.
مديرا للصفحة معي.
ideas from the people.
did not want Egyptians to know.
أن يعرفها المصريون.
media organizations
المؤسسات الإعلامية المرموقة
against his regime.
on Facebook and called it
وأسميته
Injustice and Dictatorship."
of the page at the time:
الصفحة حينئذ:
to the streets of Cairo,
في شوارع القاهرة،
reached over a million people,
لأكثر من مليون شخص،
confirmed attendance.
for this campaign.
لهذه الحملة.
that they were not alone.
for the regime to stop it.
even understand it.
the streets of Cairo and other cities,
القاهرة والمدن الأخرى،
the Internet and telecommunications,
والاتصالات،
in Cairo, around midnight.
حوالي منتصف الليل.
a massacre tomorrow."
and the others paralyzed me.
وقام الآخرون بشلّ حركتي.
by state security.
and even morgues.
I was the admin of the page
بأنني مدير في الصفحة،
my connection with that page,
by state security.
a search campaign trying to find me,
محاولين العثور علي،
demanded my release.
بإطلاق سراحي.
and empowering moment of my life.
during the revolution.
ل18 يوما خلال الثورة.
despite our differences,
were like a punch in the gut.
مثل اللكمة في المعدة.
led to intense polarization.
إلى استقطاب حاد.
of misinformation, rumors,
filled with trolls, lies, hate speech.
بالمتصيدين، الكاذبين وبأحاديث الكراهية.
about the safety of my family.
between the two main powers --
بين القوتين الرئيسيتيين --
democratically elected president,
تم انتخابه ديموقراطيا،
that demanded his resignation.
طالبت باستقالته.
on everything that happened,
is primarily driven
and magnifies its impact.
وتعظّم من تأثيره.
that is not based on a fact,
ليس مبنيا على حقائق،
someone that you don't like.
is only one click away.
هو مجرد نقرة على الفأرة.
critical challenges
تحديات رئيسية
how to deal with rumors.
among millions of people.
with people that we agree with,
يتفقون معنا،
and block everybody else.
quickly descend into angry mobs.
بسرعة إلى الجماهير الغاضبة.
are actually real people
هم في الحقيقة بشر
to change our opinions.
أن نغيّر آراءنا.
and brevity of social media,
it lives forever on the Internet,
يدوم الأمر إلى الأبد على الإنترنت،
to change these views,
this is the most critical --
are designed in a way
صُممت بطريقة
we are here to talk at each other
لنتحدث لبعضنا البعض
critical challenges contributed
المصري المُستقطب في الأصل،
Egyptian society,
in the whole world.
part of the solution,
محاربة التحرش الرقمي
on how to combat online harassment
تجارب تواصل اجتماعي
to design social media experiences
and reward thoughtfulness.
that is more sensational,
angry and aggressive,
of a post you write,
الذين يقرؤون ما تكتب؟
that read what you write?
لإشراكهم في الحوارات،
incentives to engage in conversations,
opinions all the time?
that they disagree with?
وجهات نظرنا،
that we change our minds,
عدد الناس الذين غيروا وجهات نظرهم،
how many people changed their minds,
التواصل الاجتماعي؟
of our social media experience?
يغيّرون آرائهم،
are changing their minds,
أحاول فعل ذلك،
thoughtfully, trying to do that,
who already agree with me
تحيزاتهم.
confirmed their biases.
آليات التعهيد الجماعي،
crowdsourcing mechanisms,
المنشورة على الانترنت،
online information,
في بيئة التواصل الاجتماعي الحالية
today's social media ecosystem
والفهم المتبادل.
and mutual understanding.
مع قليل من الأصدقاء،
I teamed up with a few friends,
واستكشاف الإمكانيات.
and explore possibilities.
للنقاشات.
media platform for conversations.
للفهم المتبادل
that promote mutual understanding
with different discussions
the refugee debate,
على هذا الكوكب
people on the planet
is being held captive
of our human behavior.
مجتمع ما،
to liberate society,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wael Ghonim - Internet activist and computer engineerWael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it.
Why you should listen
Wael Ghonim is a computer engineer, an Internet activist, and a social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Parlio, a new media platform for public conversations that rewards civility, which has been acquired by Quora. Wael is a senior fellow at Ash Center for Democratic Governance at Harvard University.
Wael spent 6 years at Google during which he used to head up Marketing and Product in the MENA region responsible of driving the growth of Google's products across the region and evangelizing the use of the Internet and growing the Arabic content in the region.
In 2011, Wael was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was named one of Time 100's most influential and received JFK Profile in Courage Award. Coined the "keyboard freedom fighter," he used the power of the internet and social media to fight for social justice, democracy and human rights in Egypt.
He is the founder of "Tahrir Academy", a nonprofit online knowledge sharing platform for Arab youth. Wael received his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University and earned an MBA from the American University in Cairo.
Wael Ghonim | Speaker | TED.com