Tweeting About a Revolution

By Marcus van Geyzel

As the world works itself into a collective frenzy over a social media revolution, it is easy to get carried away and overhype the effect of what is, in reality, just another mode of communication. The current social media darlings are, of course, Facebook and Twitter, and self-proclaimed “social media experts / gurus” have been lining up in the past couple of years to preach to the unconverted print media publishers, businessmen, public figures and the public at large to jump on the train before they get left at the station, alone and rueful. The social media spotlight is now very much on Twitter, whose ubiquity has culminated with prominent features on Oprah, US late-night talk-shows, CNN and a TIME cover story entitled “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live.” Yes, I did say it was a frenzy.

Many Malaysian social media experts have claimed that Malaysia is also being swept along by this social media revolution. Naysayers point to the fact that the percentage of Malaysians who participate in social media is so low that any talk of a revolution is obviously premature. Who is right?