Let's design social media that drives real change | Wael Ghonim

Translator: Jette Derriche Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

I once said,

Jeg sagde engang:

"If you want to liberate a society,

"Hvis du vil liberalisere et samfund,

all you need is the Internet."

er alt du behøver Internettet."

I was wrong.

Jeg tog fejl.

I said those words back in 2011,

Jeg udtalte disse ord tilbage i 2011

when a Facebook page I anonymously created

hvor en Facebook side jeg oprettede anonymt

helped spark the Egyptian revolution.

var med at starte den Ægyptiske revolution.

The Arab Spring revealed social media's greatest potential,

Det Arabiske Forår viste sociale mediers største potentiale,

but it also exposed its greatest shortcomings.

men samtidig også de største mangler

The same tool that united us to topple dictators

De værktøjer der forenede os og væltede diktatorer

eventually tore us apart.

endte med at splitte os.

I would like to share my own experience in using social media for activism,

Jeg vil gerne dele min erfaring med aktivisme via sociale medier

and talk about some of the challenges I have personally faced

og tale om nogen af de udfordringer jeg personligt har mødt,

and what we could do about them.

og hvordan vi overkommer dem.

In the early 2000s,

I de tidligere 00'er,

Arabs were flooding the web.

var arabere overalt på nettet,

Thirsty for knowledge, for opportunities,

tørstige efter viden og muligheder,

for connecting with the rest of the people around the globe,

for at netværke med mennesker overalt i verden.

we escaped our frustrating political realities

Vi flygtede fra de frustrerende politiske realiteter

and lived a virtual, alternative life.

og levede virtuelle alternative liv.

Just like many of them, I was completely apolitical until 2009.

Som mange af de andre, var jeg totalt upolitisk indtil 2009.

At the time, when I logged into social media,

Når jeg dengang var på sociale medier,

I started seeing more and more Egyptians

så jeg flere og flere ægyptere

aspiring for political change in the country.

tale for politisk ændring i landet.

It felt like I was not alone.

Jeg så jeg ikke var alene.

In June 2010,

I juni 2010,

Internet changed my life forever.

ændrede Internet for evigt mit liv.

While browsing Facebook,

Mens jeg var på Facebook,

I saw a photo, a terrifying photo, of a tortured, dead body

så jeg et skræmmende foto af en død og tortureret

of a young Egyptian guy.

ung mands krop.

His name was Khaled Said.

Hans navn var Khaled Said.

Khaled was a 29-year-old Alexandrian who was killed by police.

Khaled var en 29-årig Alexandrianer som blev dræbt af politiet.

I saw myself in his picture.

Jeg kunne se mig selv i billedet.

I thought, "I could be Khaled."

Jeg tænkte: Det kunne have være mig.

I could not sleep that night, and I decided to do something.

Den aften kunne jeg ikke sove og besluttede at gøre noget.

I anonymously created a Facebook page

Jeg oprettede anonymt en Facebook side

and called it "We are all Khaled Said."

og kaldte den "Vi er alle Khaled Said."

In just three days, the page had over 100,000 people,

På bare 3 dage, havde siden over 100.000 personer,

fellow Egyptians who shared the same concern.

Ægyptiske landsmænd der delte samme bekymring.

Whatever was happening had to stop.

Hvad end der foregik, måtte det stoppe.

I recruited my co-admin, AbdelRahman Mansour.

Jeg rekrutterede min co-admin AbdelRahman Mansour.

We worked together for hours and hours.

Vi arbejdede sammen i timevis.

We were crowdsourcing ideas from the people.

Vi samlede ideer fra folket.

We were engaging them.

Vi engagerede dem.

We were calling collectively for actions,

Vi kaldte på kollektivt samarbejde,

and sharing news that the regime did not want Egyptians to know.

og delte nyheder som regimet ønskede at holde skjult.

The page became the most followed page

Siden fik flere følgere end nogen andre

in the Arab world.

i den arabiske verden.

It had more fans than established media organizations

Den havde flere fans en etablerede organisationer,

and even top celebrities.

endda store berømtheder.

On January 14, 2011,

D. 14. januar 2011,

Ben Ali fled out of Tunisia

flygtede Ben Ali ud af Tunesien

after mounting protests against his regime.

efter at have opildnet til protest imod regimet.

I saw a spark of hope.

Jeg fik et glimt at håb.

Egyptians on social media were wondering,

Ægyptere på sociale medier overvejede,

"If Tunisia did it, why can't we?"

"Hvis Tunesien kan, kan vi vel også?"

I posted an event on Facebook and called it

Jeg oprettede et event på Facebook under navnet

"A Revolution against Corruption, Injustice and Dictatorship."

"En revolution mod korruption uretfærdighed og tyranni."

I posed a question to the 300,000 users of the page at the time:

Jeg stillede et spørgsmål til de 300.000 brugere på siden:

"Today is the 14th of January.

"I dag er d. 14. januar.

The 25th of January is Police Day.

D. 25. januar er Politidag.

It's a national holiday.

En national helligdag.

If 100,000 of us take to the streets of Cairo,

Hvis 100.000 af os indtager Kairos gader,

no one is going to stop us.

kan ingen stoppe os.

I wonder if we could do it."

Kan vi mon gøre det."

In just a few days, the invitation reached over a million people,

På få dage nåede invitationen ud til over 1 million mennesker,

and over 100,000 people confirmed attendance.

og mere end 100.000 bekræftede deres deltagelse.

Social media was crucial for this campaign.

Det sociale medie betød alt for denne kampagne.

It helped a decentralized movement arise.

Det samlede en spredt bevægelse.

It made people realize that they were not alone.

Det fik folk til at se de ikke var alene.

And it made it impossible for the regime to stop it.

Og gjorde det umuligt for regimet at stoppe det.

At the time, they didn't even understand it.

På det tidspunkt havde de end ikke fattet det.

And on January 25th, Egyptians flooded the streets of Cairo and other cities,

Og d. 25. januar gik ægypterne på gaden i Kairo og andre byer

calling for change,

med krav om ændringer,

breaking the barrier of fear

og frygtens barrierer blev nedbrudt

and announcing a new era.

og varslede en ny æra.

Then came the consequences.

Så kom konsekvenserne.

A few hours before the regime cut off the Internet and telecommunications,

Et par timer før regimet afbrudte Internet- og telekommunikation,

I was walking in a dark street in Cairo, around midnight.

gik jeg ved midnatstid på en mørk vej i Kairo.

I had just tweeted, "Pray for Egypt.

Jeg havde lige tweeted: "Bed for Ægypten.

The government must be planning a massacre tomorrow."

Regeringen planlægger nok en massakre i morgen."

I was hit hard on my head.

Så blev jeg slået hårdt i hovedet.

I lost my balance and fell down,

Jeg mistede balancen og faldt,

to find four armed men surrounding me.

og blev omringet af 4 bevæbnede mænd.

One covered my mouth and the others paralyzed me.

Den ene dækkede min mund mens resten hold mig fast.

I knew I was being kidnapped by state security.

Jeg blev kidnappet af af sikkerhedsstyrker.

I found myself in a cell,

Jeg endte i en celle,

handcuffed, blindfolded.

i håndjern og med bind for øjnene.

I was terrified.

Jeg var rædselsslagen.

So was my family,

Det var min familie også,

who started looking for me

og de satte en eftersøgning igang

in hospitals, police stations and even morgues.

på hospitaler, politistationer og endda lighusene.

After my disappearance,

Efter min forsvinden,

a few of my fellow colleagues who knew I was the admin of the page

gjorde et par af mine kolleger, som vidste jeg var admin på siden,

told the media about my connection with that page,

medierne opmærksom på min relation til netop denne side.

and that I was likely arrested by state security.

Og også at jeg sandsynligvis var arresteret af sikkerhedsstyrker.

My colleagues at Google started a search campaign trying to find me,

Mine kolleger hos Google starte en eftersøgningskampagne

and the fellow protesters in the square demanded my release.

og mine medprotestanter på pladsen, forlangte min løsladelse.

After 11 days of complete darkness,

Efter 11 dages total mørke

I was set free.

blev jeg løsladt.

And three days later,

Og 3 dage senere,

Mubarak was forced to step down.

blev Mubarak tvunget til at gå af.

It was the most inspiring and empowering moment of my life.

Det var det mest inspirerende øjeblik i mit liv.

It was a time of great hope.

Det var en tid med store håb.

Egyptians lived a utopia for 18 days during the revolution.

I 18 dage, under revolutionen, levede ægypterne i et utopia.

They all shared the belief

De delte alle den samme overbevisning

that we could actually live together despite our differences,

at vi kan leve sammen på trods af forskelligheder,

that Egypt after Mubarak would be for all.

at Ægypten efter Mubarak ville være et sted for alle.

But unfortunately,

Men desværre

the post-revolution events were like a punch in the gut.

var tiden efter revolutionen som et slag i mellemgulvet.

The euphoria faded,

Euroforien svandt,

we failed to build consensus,

vi fandt ikke et fælles ståsted.

and the political struggle led to intense polarization.

Politikernes kampe endte i intens polarisering.

Social media only amplified that state,

Sociale medier forstærkede den tilstand

by facilitating the spread of misinformation, rumors,

ved at sprede misinformation og rygter,

echo chambers and hate speech.

splittelse og hadefulde ytringer.

The environment was purely toxic.

Debatten var ren gift.

My online world became a battleground filled with trolls, lies, hate speech.

Min online verden blev en krigsskueplads fyldt med trolls, løgne og had.

I started to worry about the safety of my family.

Jeg frygtede for min families sikkerhed.

But of course, this wasn't just about me.

Dette handlede naturligvis ikke kun om mig.

The polarization reached its peak between the two main powers --

Polariseringen toppede mellem de mest magtfulde --

the army supporters and the Islamists.

hærens og Islamismens støtter.

People in the center, like me,

Personer i midten, som mig,

started feeling helpless.

mærkede følelsen af hjælpeløshed.

Both groups wanted you to side with them;

Begge grupper ønskede man tog deres parti

you were either with them or against them.

Man var endten med eller imod dem.

And on the 3rd of July 2013,

Og d. 3. juli 2013,

the army ousted Egypt's first democratically elected president,

fortrængte hæren Ægyptens første demokratisk valgte præsident,

after three days of popular protest that demanded his resignation.

efter 3 dages larmende protester der krævede hans afgang.

That day I made a very hard decision.

Den dag tog jeg en svær beslutning

I decided to go silent, completely silent.

Jeg valgte at være tavs. Helt tavs.

It was a moment of defeat.

Det var nederlagets time.

I stayed silent for more than two years,

Jeg forblev tavs i mere end 2 år,

and I used the time to reflect on everything that happened,

og brugte tiden til at reflektere over alt hvad der var sket,

trying to understand why did it happen.

prøvede at forstå hvorfor.

It became clear to me

Det stod efterhånden klart

that while it's true that polarization is primarily driven

at selvom polarisering primært skyldes

by our human behavior,

menneskelige handlinger

social media shapes this behavior and magnifies its impact.

former sociale medier disse handlinger og forstærker virkningen.

Say you want to say something that is not based on a fact,

Hvis du har et budskab der ikke baserer sig på fakta,

pick a fight or ignore someone that you don't like.

starter et skænderi eller ignorerer nogen du ikke kan lide,

These are all natural human impulses,

er det naturlige menneskelige impulser

but because of technology,

men som følge af teknologi

acting on these impulses is only one click away.

er vi altid kun få klik fra at udleve disse impulser.

In my view, there are five critical challenges

Som jeg ser det, har vi 5 kritiske udfordringer

facing today's social media.

med dagens sociale medier

First, we don't know how to deal with rumors.

Vi har for lidt erfaring med at håndtere rygter.

Rumors that confirm people's biases

Rygter der bekræfter folks fordomme

are now believed and spread among millions of people.

deles som sandheder, blandt millioner af mennesker.

Second, we create our own echo chambers.

For det andet opretter vi egne små cirkler

We tend to only communicate with people that we agree with,

hvor vi kommunikerer kun med mennesker vi er enige med,

and thanks to social media,

og takket være sociale medier,

we can mute, un-follow and block everybody else.

kan vi ignorere og blokere alle andre.

Third, online discussions quickly descend into angry mobs.

For det tredie, online debatter udvikler sig ofte til vrede hobe.

All of us probably know that.

Det er almen viden.

It's as if we forget

Det er som om vi glemmer

that the people behind screens are actually real people

at bag skærmene sidder rigtige mennesker

and not just avatars.

ikke bare profilbilleder.

And fourth, it became really hard to change our opinions.

For det fjerde, blev det rigtig svært at ændre vores meninger.

Because of the speed and brevity of social media,

Hastighed og kortfattethed på sociale medier

we are forced to jump to conclusions

tvinger os til at drage forhastede konklusioner

and write sharp opinions in 140 characters

og nedfælde skarpe meninger på 140 karakterer

about complex world affairs.

om verdens komplekse emner.

And once we do that, it lives forever on the Internet,

Og bagefter lever teksten for evigt på Internet,

and we are less motivated to change these views,

og vi er derfor mindre tilbøjelige til at ændre vores syn,

even when new evidence arises.

endda selvom nye beviser dukker op.

Fifth -- and in my point of view, this is the most critical --

For det femte -- og det mener jeg er det allermest kritiske --

today, our social media experiences are designed in a way

Sociale medier er i dag designet til at

that favors broadcasting over engagements,

fremme promovering frem for involvering,

posts over discussions,

indlæg over debatter,

shallow comments over deep conversations.

overfladiske kommentarer fremfor dybe samtaler.

It's as if we agreed that we are here to talk at each other

Vi er tilsyneladende enige om at tale til hinanden

instead of talking with each other.

i stedet for at tale med hinanden

I witnessed how these critical challenges contributed

Jeg så til mens disse kritiske udfordringer yderligere bidrog

to an already polarized Egyptian society,

til et allerede polariseret ægyptisk samfund.

but this is not just about Egypt.

Men det handler ikke kun om ægypten.

Polarization is on the rise in the whole world.

Polarisering forstærkes overalt i verden.

We need to work hard on figuring out

Vi må arbejde hårdt på at finde ud af

how technology could be part of the solution,

hvordan teknologi kan blive en del af løsningen,

rather than part of the problem.

fremfor en del af problemet.

There's a lot of debate today on how to combat online harassment

Mange debatter handler om hvordan online chikane bekæmpes

and fight trolls.

og trolls undgås.

This is so important.

Det er virkelig vigtigt.

No one could argue against that.

Det kan ingen argumentere imod.

But we need to also think about how to design social media experiences

Men vi må også overveje hvordan sociale medier kan designes til at

that promote civility and reward thoughtfulness.

fremme god tone og belønne indsigt.

I know for a fact

Jeg ved med sikkerhed

if I write a post that is more sensational,

at hvis jeg skriver et bombastisk

more one-sided, sometimes angry and aggressive,

ensidet og måske aggressivt indlæg,

I get to have more people see that post.

vil flere læse det indlæg

I will get more attention.

og jeg vil få mere opmærksomhed.

But what if we put more focus on quality?

Men hvad hvis vi fokuserer mere på kvalitet?

What is more important:

Hvad er vigtigst:

the total number of readers of a post you write,

antallet af mennesker der læser dit indlæg,

or who are the people who have impact that read what you write?

eller hvem du når ud til med dit indlæg?

Couldn't we just give people more incentives to engage in conversations,

Kunne vi ikke engagere folk i samtaler

rather than just broadcasting opinions all the time?

fremfor bare at promovere meninger hele tiden.

Or reward people for reading

Eller belønne folk for at læse

and responding to views that they disagree with?

og besvare holdninger de er uenige i?

And also, make it socially acceptable that we change our minds,

Og også gøre det socialt acceptabelt at ændre sin holdning,

or probably even reward that?

og måske endda belønne det?

What if we have a matrix that says how many people changed their minds,

Hvad hvis vi har en måling der viser hvor mange der ændrer holdning

and that becomes part of our social media experience?

og det bliver en del af oplevelsen på sociale medier?

If I could track how many people are changing their minds,

Hvis jeg kunne se hvor mange der ændrer holdning,

I'd probably write more thoughtfully, trying to do that,

ville jeg nok skrive mere gennemtænkte indlæg,

rather than appealing to the people who already agree with me

fremfor at appellere til dem jeg allerede er enig med

and "liking" because I just confirmed their biases.

og "synes om" fordi jeg lige har bekræftet deres fordomme.

We also need to think about effective crowdsourcing mechanisms,

Vi bør også udtænke hvordan vi mere effektivt

to fact-check widely spread online information,

kan faktatjekke de meget udbredte online budskaber,

and reward people who take part in that.

og belønne de der tager del i det.

In essence, we need to rethink today's social media ecosystem

Helt basalt, bør vi genopfinde økosystemet i sociale medier

and redesign its experiences

og redesigne oplevelsen

to reward thoughtfulness, civility and mutual understanding.

så indsigt, god tone og gensidig respekt belønnes.

As a believer in the Internet, I teamed up with a few friends,

Som tilhænger af Internet, gik jeg sammen med et par venner,

started a new project,

om et nyt projekt,

trying to find answers and explore possibilities.

for at finde svar og undersøge mulighederne.

Our first product is a new media platform for conversations.

Vores første produkt er en ny platform for samtaler.

We're hosting conversations that promote mutual understanding

Vi er vært for samtaler der fremmer gensidig forståelse

and hopefully change minds.

og forhåbentlig ændrer holdninger.

We don't claim to have the answers,

Vi påstår ikke at have alle svar,

but we started experimenting with different discussions

men vi eksperimenterede med forskellige diskussioner

about very divisive issues,

om emner der ofte splitter,

such as race, gun control, the refugee debate,

såsom race, våbenkontrol og flygtningedebatter,

relationship between Islam and terrorism.

relationer mellem islam og terrorisme.

These are conversations that matter.

Det er samtaler der betyder noget.

Today, at least one out of three people on the planet

I dag har mindst en ud af tre mennesker på Jorden

have access to the Internet.

adgang til Internet.

But part of this Internet is being held captive

Men en del af det Internet holdes som gidsel

by the less noble aspects of our human behavior.

af mindre noble aspekter ved menneskers opførsel.

Five years ago, I said,

For 5 år siden sagde jeg,

"If you want to liberate society,

"Hvis du vil liberalisere et samfund,

all you need is the Internet."

er alt du behøver Internettet."

Today, I believe if we want to liberate society,

I dag mener jeg, at før vi kan liberalisere et samfund

we first need to liberate the Internet.

skal vi liberalisere Internettet.

Thank you very much.

Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)