Facebook VP: We got too much credit for Arab revolutions

David Fischer told the Presidential Conference: The people who make the revolution are the brave ones.

"The social network gives people a way to express themselves and have their voice heard by governments and dictators - this was not so before," Facebook vice president advertising and global operations David Fischer said in a panel discussion on the Internet at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem today.

Fischer is the son of Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer.

Fischer spoke about the power that social networks give people, among other things in the revolutions in the Arab world in recent months that were mostly organized on Facebook. He added, "When you see what is happening, you understand why changes are happening within the social media. However, I think Facebook gets too much credit for these things. In the end, the people who make the revolution are the barve ones here."

Speaking about Israel he said, "As we saw this month in research by comScore, Israel uses social media more than any other country. There are three million Israelis on Facebook, and if we do the math, I'm sure that while I'm speaking here - quite a few are updating their Facebook pages."

He continued, "Facebook is part of a major revolution because it works only if you do it yourself. On Facebook, you have to put in your real identity. If you go in anonymously, probably nobody will approve you. That's why so many sites use Facebook as their system for responses - because it reduces harmful talkbacks by 50% because you have to respond as yourself."

The Facebook VP spoke about the success of online social games company Zynga. He said, "I tried to explain to my parents why millions of people are buying virtual tractors in a game like Farmville. There is an explanation why Zynga has so many users and why its value, if you believe it, has exceeded Electronic Arts (EA). You simply can't succeed in these games without creating interaction with your friends. The entire industry is going there and becoming more social."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 23, 2011

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

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