When Facebook recently launched its "Peace on
Facebook" section, many were puzzled:
Why would a site which initially catered to college freshmen have the gumption
to identify itself with world peace?
But a closer look suggests Facebook is onto
something beguiling. Despite the "version 1.0" feel of the site,
there are two remarkable components. First, Facebook presents information
regarding friendships crossing national, religious and political boundaries which
is very compelling. Just yesterday, for example, 5567 Israelis and Palestinians
"friended" on Facebook - and that's probably a good thing. Second, the
site presents poll data on "can we achieve world peace in 50 years", a
wonderful example of a concrete, relevant metric that Facebook can easily
generate. (Plus, who would believe that 30% of Colombians answer that question
"yes", while only 10% of Americans do?)
So congratulations to Facebook. Peace on Facebook
is a great start.
But world peace it ain't (yet). Let’s think
ambitiously for a minute – how could Facebook do more to promote world peace?
- Data:Facebook sits on a profoundly impressive data set. It has provided a samplingof what is possible, but only a tiny view. Detailed demographics, time series,trend information, and aggregated data would allow researchers and activists touse the information meaningfully. Even better would be to provide downloadableinformation or APIs;
- TargetedExpansion: If Facebook really is providing a public good by promoting friendshipacross boundaries, then a specific strategy to increase usage across the mostdaunting boundaries should be pursued, perhaps through partnering with (or atleast enabling) local organizations. Facebook also needs to work with theChinese to lift its current ban in China, which excludes a fifth of the planetfrom the service.
- NGOSupport: NGOs would love to be able to, for example, contact Israelis that havemore than 10 Palestinian friends. Facebook's current ad serving infrastructurecould be expanded to provide this sort of valuable (and anonymous) communicationschannel.
- Feedback:If Facebook really aspires to help us towards world peace, then the endeavorneeds to be extremely open and participatory.
The Peace on Facebook initiative is part of a
larger "Peace Dot" movement catalyzed by BJ Fogg and colleagues at Stanford University. The new initiative,
though still amorphous, appears compelling enough that it might coalesce into
something of genuine consequence. Already there is early participation not only
from Facebook, but also Ashoka, Care2, Safeway, and others.
The truth is the planet has become tightly wired
together very recently -- much of it in the last few years (or even months) --
and nobody really understands the full implications of that. Undoubtedly there
are astounding opportunities lurking for communication, cooperation and peace.
Maybe "Peace on Facebook" isn't a silly notion at all, and we are all
actually greatly underestimating the opportunity.