Beyond the Nation-State and Social Media

It’s a recent phenomenon: social media is altering world history.  As the recent Iranian resistance from twittosphere has shown, as well as the recent events in China, Burma, Russia, Tunisia and Egypt resistance, not even the tightly drawn cloak of authoritarian regimes can regulate what seeps through the social web.  Just look at what Wikileaks is doing to open up once tightly withheld information, and ultimately, the political order.

Don Tapscott argues in Macrowikinomics, that we have entered the age of “beyond the nation state.”    Microfinancing, virtual activism, and global agenda partnerships via the social web are but a few developments that are breaking down the nation-state’s grip, and challenging the very notion of its importance to its citizens.  Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) are clearly gaining legitimacy and relevance, even by nation-states.   NGO’s have become effective change agents. And social media is only intensifying this change.

Vancouver-based HootSuite is one example of how social media is challenging the stronghold of the notion of the state.  In particular, social media  helping people in Egypt circumvent the government’s shutdown of the Internet.  Hootsuite, which offers social media portal feed for cross-posting to Twitter and Facebook, is reporting that signups are up sevenfold this month in Egypt, with the most from this past week of January — mostly from mobile devices.

The company, which offers users a social media dashboard for posting to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, reports that signups are up sevenfold this month in Egypt, with most in the past week and most from mobile devices.   Blocking Internet access and text messaging as well as Twitter and Facebook, the Egyptian government hasn’t deterred its people from going through proxy servers or using third-party applications like HootSuite and TweetDeck to voice their dissent.

Here’s something interesting: although HootSuite users who had already signed up before the Internet are being shut down in Egypt, they are still able to use the service as new users who must register a new account online at twitter.com.   Moreover, iPhone users can sign up for new HootSuite accounts through the mobile app.  From all the developments we’re witnessing about the transformational change social media has afforded us, it’s changing the course of history as well.   We’ll see more in the upcoming years ahead.