Revolution 2.0 : the power of the people is greater than the people in power : a memoir

The revolutions that swept the Middle East in 2011 surprised and captivated the world. Brutal regimes that had been in power for decades were overturned by an irrepressible mass of freedom seekers. Now, one of the figures who emerged during the Egyptian uprising tells the riveting inside story of what happened and shares the keys to unleashing the power of crowds. Wael Ghonim was a little-known, thirty-year-old Google executive in the summer of 2010 when he anonymously launched a Facebook page to protest the death of one Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. The page's following expanded quickly and moved from online protests to a nonconfrontational movement. The youth of Egypt made history: they used social media to schedule a revolution. The call went out to more than a million Egyptians online, and on January 25, 2011, Cairo's Tahrir Square resounded with calls for change. Yet just as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was captured and held for twelve days of brutal interrogation. After he was released, he gave a tearful speech on national television, and the protests grew more intense. Four days later, the president of Egypt was gone. The lessons Ghonim draws will inspire each of us. He saw the road to Tahrir Square built not by any one person, but by the people. In Revolution 2.0, we can all be heroes.

“A gripping chronicle of how a fear-frozen society finally topples its oppressors with the help of social media.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Wael Ghonim was a little-known, thirty-year-old Google executive in the summer of 2010 when he anonymously launched a Facebook page to protest the death of one Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. The page’s following expanded quickly and moved from online protests to a nonconfrontational movement. On January 25, 2011, Tahrir Square resounded with calls for change. Yet just as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was captured and held for twelve days of brutal interrogation. After he was released, he gave a tearful speech on national television, and the protests grew more intense. Four days later, the president of Egypt was gone.

In this riveting story, Ghonim takes us inside the movement and shares the keys to unleashing the power of crowds. In Revolution 2.0, we can all be heroes.

“Revolution 2.0 is an engaging read, and it offers a sharply detailed look from the inside of an uprising that owed almost as much to social media connections as it did to anti-Mubarak passions.” — Los Angeles Times

“Revolution 2.0 excels in chronicling the roiling tension in the months before the uprising, the careful organization required and the momentum it unleashed.” — NPR.org

The former Google executive and political activist tells the story of the Egyptian revolution he helped ignite through the power of social media. In the summer of 2010, thirty-year-old Google executive Wael Ghonim anonymously launched a Facebook page to protest the death of an Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. The page's following expanded quickly and moved from online protests to a nonconfrontational movement. On January 25, 2011, Tahrir Square resounded with calls for change. Yet just as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was captured and held for twelve days of brutal interrogation. After he was released, he gave a tearful speech on national television, and the protests grew more intense. Four days later, the president of Egypt was gone. In this riveting story, Ghonim takes us inside the movement and shares the keys to unleashing the power of crowds in the age of social networking. "A gripping chronicle of how a fear-frozen society finally topples its oppressors with the help of social media." #8212; San Francisco Chronicle " Revolution 2.0 excels in chronicling the roiling tension in the months before the uprising, the careful organization required and the momentum it unleashed." #8212;NPR.org The author who was a key figure behind the Egyptian uprising in January 2011 which resulted in the ousting of President Mubarak tells the inside story and presents lessons on how to unleash the power of crowds to create political change. The power of the people is stronger than the people in power. Social media allow ideas to be shared. They are places where people can unite, Revolutions can begin, a new type of Revolution. The author used to be a man unwilling to publicly criticise the Egyptian regime. Like many, he was silenced by the fear of reprisals. But in January 2011 he decided he had seen too much oppression go unchallenged and started a Facebook page calling for the people to protest. It became a rallying-point for revolution and Egyptians took to the streets, while he was held by security forces for a horrifying 11 days. In an attempt to quell the revolution the government moved to shut down the internet, fearful of its ability to mobilise the people. It was too late; the people were no longer afraid of making themselves heard. This book is an insider's story from the heart of the Egyptian Spring, and gives insight into why the Egyptian people finally rejected 30 years of oppression and found a voice "Wael Ghonim was a little-known, thirty-year-old Google executive in the summer of 2010 when he anonymously launched a Facebook page to protest the death of one Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. The page's following expanded quickly and moved from online protests to a nonconfrontational movement. On January 25, 2011, Tahrir Square resounded with calls for change. Yet just as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was captured and held for twelve days of brutal interrogation. After he was released, he gave a tearful speech on national television, and the protests grew more intense. Four days later, the president of Egypt was gone." -- From the rear cover A regime of fear Searching for a savior We are all Khaled Said Online and on the streets A pre-announced revolution! 25th of January 2011 Captured Get up Number 41 The finale.