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

翻译人员: Zhiting Chen 校对人员: Geoff Chen

I once said,

我曾说过，

"If you want to liberate a society,

“如果你想要解放社会，

all you need is the Internet."

你只需要互联网。”

I was wrong.

我错了。

I said those words back in 2011,

我说这番话的时候是2011年，

when a Facebook page I anonymously created

我匿名创建了一个脸书主页

helped spark the Egyptian revolution.

这个主页引发了埃及革命。

The Arab Spring revealed social media's greatest potential,

阿拉伯之春展示了 社交媒体的巨大潜力，

but it also exposed its greatest shortcomings.

但同时也暴露了其最大缺点。

The same tool that united us to topple dictators

这个我们让我们集结在一起 推翻独裁者的工具

eventually tore us apart.

最终也将我们撕裂。

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

我想分享我使用社交媒体 来推动社会变革的经验，

and talk about some of the challenges I have personally faced

来讨论我面对的一些挑战

and what we could do about them.

以及我们能够做些什么。

In the early 2000s,

在21世纪第一个十年的早期，

Arabs were flooding the web.

阿拉伯人在网上的活动蔓延开来。

Thirsty for knowledge, for opportunities,

渴望知识、机遇

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

连结世界上的其他人，

we escaped our frustrating political realities

我们逃离了沮丧的政治现实

and lived a virtual, alternative life.

活在虚拟的，用以替代现实的人生。

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

和他们中的很多人一样，在2009年前， 我完全没有任何政治立场。

At the time, when I logged into social media,

那时，我登入社交媒体，

I started seeing more and more Egyptians

我开始看到越来越多的埃及人

aspiring for political change in the country.

呼吁这个国家政治变革。

It felt like I was not alone.

我感到自己并不是唯一的那个。

In June 2010,

在2010年的6月，

Internet changed my life forever.

网络永久改变了我的人生。

While browsing Facebook,

在浏览脸书网站时，

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

我看到一张照片，一张可怕的照片， 是一个年轻埃及男子的尸体

of a young Egyptian guy.

留有被折磨过的痕迹。

His name was Khaled Said.

他的名字是卡勒德·赛义德。

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

哈勒德是一名39岁的亚历山大城居民， 他被警察杀害。

I saw myself in his picture.

在他的照片中我看到了自己。

I thought, "I could be Khaled."

我想，“我也可能是哈勒德。”

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

那晚我无法入睡， 我决定要做些事。

I anonymously created a Facebook page

我匿名创建了脸书页面

and called it "We are all Khaled Said."

名叫“我们都是哈勒德·赛义德。”

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

3天内，页面追随者超过了10万人，

fellow Egyptians who shared the same concern.

他们是有着同样担忧的埃及人。

Whatever was happening had to stop.

正在发生的这些事必须停止。

I recruited my co-admin, AbdelRahman Mansour.

我招募了我的管理伙伴， 阿德哈曼·曼索。

We worked together for hours and hours.

我们长时间一起工作。

We were crowdsourcing ideas from the people.

我们把人们的想法集中起来，

We were engaging them.

让人们参与进来。

We were calling collectively for actions,

我们组织集体行动，

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

分享当局不愿让埃及人知道的事。

The page became the most followed page

这个页面成为阿拉伯世界

in the Arab world.

最受欢迎的页面。

It had more fans than established media organizations

页面的粉丝比现有的媒体要多

and even top celebrities.

甚至比当红明星还要多。

On January 14, 2011,

在2011年1月14日，

Ben Ali fled out of Tunisia

本·阿里逃离了突尼西亚，

after mounting protests against his regime.

在大量的抗议人群反对他的政权之后。

I saw a spark of hope.

我看到了一丝希望。

Egyptians on social media were wondering,

社交媒体上的埃及人想，

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

“突尼西亚做到了，为什么我们不能呢？”

I posted an event on Facebook and called it

我在脸书上公布了一个活动

"A Revolution against Corruption, Injustice and Dictatorship."

“反对腐败、不公正和独裁的革命。”

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

我向那时页面的30万粉丝提出问题：

"Today is the 14th of January.

“今天是1月14日。

The 25th of January is Police Day.

1月25日是警察日。

It's a national holiday.

是一个世界性的节日。

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

如果我们中10万人走上 开罗街头，

no one is going to stop us.

没人能阻止我们。

I wonder if we could do it."

我不知道我们能不能做到。”

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

几天之内，这个邀请 就送达到超过1百万人，

and over 100,000 people confirmed attendance.

超过10万人确认他们会参加。

Social media was crucial for this campaign.

社交媒体对这场运动至关重要。

It helped a decentralized movement arise.

它帮助了一个去中心化的 社会运动崛起。

It made people realize that they were not alone.

它让人们意识到 他们并不是孤单。

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

它让政府无法阻挡。

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

在那时，政府甚至不懂那是什么。

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

在1月25日，埃及人 涌上开罗和其它城市的街头，

calling for change,

呼吁变革，

breaking the barrier of fear

冲破恐惧

and announcing a new era.

宣告新时代的到来。

Then came the consequences.

随后，后果出现了，

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

在政府切断互联网和电信的 几个小时以前，

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

深夜时分，我在开罗 一条黑暗的街道上行走。

I had just tweeted, "Pray for Egypt.

我刚发了一条推特， “为埃及祈祷，

The government must be planning a massacre tomorrow."

政府肯定计划明天采取大规模屠杀。”

I was hit hard on my head.

我的头被重重击打了。

I lost my balance and fell down,

我失去平衡跌倒在地上，

to find four armed men surrounding me.

发现四个全副武装的男子 围绕着我。

One covered my mouth and the others paralyzed me.

一个捂住我的嘴巴 其余的让我失去行动能力。

I knew I was being kidnapped by state security.

我知道自己被国安局绑架了。

I found myself in a cell,

我发现自己在监狱里，

handcuffed, blindfolded.

带着手铐，被蒙住眼睛。

I was terrified.

我很害怕。

So was my family,

我的家人也很害怕，

who started looking for me

他们开始寻找我

in hospitals, police stations and even morgues.

在医院，在警察局， 甚至是停尸房。

After my disappearance,

在我消失后，

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

那些知道我是页面管理员的同事

told the media about my connection with that page,

告诉媒体我与那个页面的关联，

and that I was likely arrested by state security.

我很有可能被国安局监禁了。

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

我在Google的同事开始了搜索运动， 想要寻找我的下落，

and the fellow protesters in the square demanded my release.

很多抗议者在广场呼吁 我被释放。

After 11 days of complete darkness,

在完全黑暗的11天后，

I was set free.

我自由了。

And three days later,

又过了3天，

Mubarak was forced to step down.

穆巴拉克被迫下台。

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

那是我人生最激动的时刻。

It was a time of great hope.

那是怀抱伟大希望的时刻。

Egyptians lived a utopia for 18 days during the revolution.

在革命时的18天里， 埃及人活在乌托邦中。

They all shared the belief

他们有着同样的信仰

that we could actually live together despite our differences,

大家可以求同存异地 生活在一起，

that Egypt after Mubarak would be for all.

穆巴拉克之后的埃及 将是和平包容的国度。

But unfortunately,

但不幸的是，

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

后革命时代的事件 就像胸口挨的重拳。

The euphoria faded,

欢快逐渐消失，

we failed to build consensus,

我们未能成功达成共识，

and the political struggle led to intense polarization.

政治斗争演变成了强烈的两极化。

Social media only amplified that state,

社交媒体只是放大言论，

by facilitating the spread of misinformation, rumors,

帮助传播错误的信息、谣言，

echo chambers and hate speech.

重复的口号和仇恨言论。

The environment was purely toxic.

环境完全被毒害了。

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

我的网络世界变成了战场 充斥着轮番大声高唱的谎言和仇恨言论。

I started to worry about the safety of my family.

我开始担心我家人的安危。

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

但显然，这并不只是针对我。

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

两极分化在两个主要势力对抗下 到达了巅峰

the army supporters and the Islamists.

军队支持者和伊斯兰教主义者。

People in the center, like me,

在中间的人们，和我一样，

started feeling helpless.

开始感到无助。

Both groups wanted you to side with them;

两个集团都希望你站在他们一边；

you were either with them or against them.

你要么是伙伴，要么是敌人。

And on the 3rd of July 2013,

在2013年7月3日，

the army ousted Egypt's first democratically elected president,

在持续三天的公众抗议 呼吁他下台之后，

after three days of popular protest that demanded his resignation.

军队驱赶了埃及历史上 第一个民主选举产生的总统。

That day I made a very hard decision.

那天我做出了一个艰难地决定。

I decided to go silent, completely silent.

我决定沉默，完全沉默。

It was a moment of defeat.

那是挫败的时刻。

I stayed silent for more than two years,

我沉默了两年多，

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

我花时间反思 过去发生的一切，

trying to understand why did it happen.

想要理解 为什么那一切会发生。

It became clear to me

我理解到

that while it's true that polarization is primarily driven

是的，两极化最初是由

by our human behavior,

我们的人性驱使，

social media shapes this behavior and magnifies its impact.

社交媒体塑造这个行为 并且放大了它的影响。

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

比如你想要说些 并不是基于事实的话，

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

挑起斗争 或是忽略某个你讨厌的人。

These are all natural human impulses,

这都是人类天生的冲动，

but because of technology,

但因为科技，

acting on these impulses is only one click away.

让这些冲动发酵 只要一个点击而已。

In my view, there are five critical challenges

我的观点是， 今天的社交媒体面对

facing today's social media.

5个严峻的挑战。

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

首先，我们不知道如何应对谣言。

Rumors that confirm people's biases

那些展示人们偏见的谣言

are now believed and spread among millions of people.

被相信，并向数百万人群传播。

Second, we create our own echo chambers.

第二，我们创建了自己的回音室。

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

我们往往只和那些 与我们观点相同的人沟通，

and thanks to social media,

感谢社交媒体，

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

我们能够静音，取消关注 和屏蔽其他人。

Third, online discussions quickly descend into angry mobs.

第三，线上讨论 很快演变成愤怒的暴民。

All of us probably know that.

我们所有人可能都了解这些。

It's as if we forget

这就如同我们忘记了

that the people behind screens are actually real people

屏幕里面的人是真实的人类

and not just avatars.

而不是阿凡达。

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

第四，改变自己的观点 变得很困难，

Because of the speed and brevity of social media,

因为社交媒体快速和简短的特征，

we are forced to jump to conclusions

我们很快跳到结论

and write sharp opinions in 140 characters

在140个字中书写 有关复杂全球时政的

about complex world affairs.

犀利的观点。

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

当我们这样做的时候， 这些观点永远存在于互联网上，

and we are less motivated to change these views,

我们缺少改变这些观点的动力，

even when new evidence arises.

即便是在新证据出现的情况下。

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

第五-- 在我看来， 这是最最重要的--

today, our social media experiences are designed in a way

今天，我们的社交媒体经验 被设计为

that favors broadcasting over engagements,

利于传播而不是参与，

posts over discussions,

利于张贴而不是讨论，

shallow comments over deep conversations.

利于浅薄的观点而不是深度的讨论。

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

就好像我们认为 自己是来这里对着他人说教

instead of talking with each other.

而不是与他人对话。

I witnessed how these critical challenges contributed

我目睹这些严峻挑战是如何影响

to an already polarized Egyptian society,

埃及这个已是两极分化的社会，

but this is not just about Egypt.

但是，这并不只是关于埃及。

Polarization is on the rise in the whole world.

两极化在全球范围内升温。

We need to work hard on figuring out

我们要努力寻找

how technology could be part of the solution,

科技如何成为解决方案的一部分，

rather than part of the problem.

而不是麻烦的一部分。

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

当今有很多争论 关于如何对抗线上骚扰

and fight trolls.

以及解决重复宣告的问题。

This is so important.

这很重要。

No one could argue against that.

没人会反对。

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

但我们也需要思考 如何设计社交媒体经验

that promote civility and reward thoughtfulness.

来推动礼貌和回报体贴。

I know for a fact

我知道

if I write a post that is more sensational,

如果我写一个更加耸动，

more one-sided, sometimes angry and aggressive,

更加一边倒， 有时是气愤和激进的帖子，

I get to have more people see that post.

会有更多人关注到这个帖子。

I will get more attention.

我会吸引更多注意力。

But what if we put more focus on quality?

但是如果我更加关注质量呢？

What is more important:

哪个更重要呢：

the total number of readers of a post you write,

你写的帖子的总阅读量，

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

还是是谁在阅读，谁有更大的影响力 在阅读你写的帖子？

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

为什么不能创造更大的动机 让人们参与对话，

rather than just broadcasting opinions all the time?

而非一直宣传观点？

Or reward people for reading

或是奖励人们阅读

and responding to views that they disagree with?

和评论那些他们不同意的观点？

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

同时，让改变自己的观点 变成社会所接纳的行为，

or probably even reward that?

或者可能的话，奖励这样的行为？

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

如果我们有一个模型 可以显示有多少人改变他们的观点，

and that becomes part of our social media experience?

成为社交媒体经验的一部分？

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

如果我能追踪多少人改变了想法，

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

我可能会写得更认真仔细， 试图更有说服力，

rather than appealing to the people who already agree with me

而不是在那些和我观点相同的人那里

and "liking" because I just confirmed their biases.

获得“赞”，因为我只是在 确认他们的偏见。

We also need to think about effective crowdsourcing mechanisms,

我们也需要思考 有效地众包机制，

to fact-check widely spread online information,

来查实广为传播的网络信息，

and reward people who take part in that.

奖励那些参与进来的人。

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

从本质上讲，我们需要重新思考 今天的社交媒体系统，

and redesign its experiences

重新设计它的经验

to reward thoughtfulness, civility and mutual understanding.

来奖励深思、礼貌和互相了解。

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

作为互联网的信徒 我和一些朋友合作，

started a new project,

开启了一个新项目，

trying to find answers and explore possibilities.

试图寻找答案和探索多种可能性。

Our first product is a new media platform for conversations.

我们的第一个产品是 新的谈话性媒体平台。

We're hosting conversations that promote mutual understanding

我们举办对谈活动 来促进相互理解

and hopefully change minds.

希望改变看法。

We don't claim to have the answers,

我们没有答案，

but we started experimenting with different discussions

但我们开始试验不同的谈话活动

about very divisive issues,

关于非常有争议的问题，

such as race, gun control, the refugee debate,

比如种族、限制枪支、 有关难民的争论、

relationship between Islam and terrorism.

伊斯兰和恐怖主义之间的关系，

These are conversations that matter.

这些都是重要的对话。

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

今天，世界上三分之一的人

have access to the Internet.

能够连接上互联网。

But part of this Internet is being held captive

但是互联网的一部分被

by the less noble aspects of our human behavior.

人类习性中 不那么高尚的方面俘虏了。

Five years ago, I said,

五年前，我说，

"If you want to liberate society,

“如果你想要解放社会，

all you need is the Internet."

你需要互联网。”

Today, I believe if we want to liberate society,

今天，我相信 如果我们想要解放社会，

we first need to liberate the Internet.

我们首先要解放互联网。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）