Recent events in Turkey, and prior events in Egypt and Libya got me thinking about the amazing power of social media. On Thursday, Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to eradicate twitter, adding “The international community can say this or that – I don’t care. They will see the power of the Turkish Republic.” The next day a "digital coup" occurred and Twitter Use in Turkey Jumped to New High. With the above in mind, I propose ... The Law of Social Media: Arrogant fools who think they can control social media quickly discover social media controls them. The overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, followed by the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état of president Mohamed Morsi,with an in-between ouster of Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi provides the basis for a number of important corollaries. Law of Social Media Corollary One: Once sentiment reaches an extreme enough point, it is too late to be controlled. The social media genie cannot be put back in the bottle. Law of Social Media Corollary Two: Prior to reaching critical mass in sentiment, the best thing for politicians would be to apologize for mistakes, then promise and quickly implement real reforms. Law of Social Media Corollary three: Arrogant fools never perceive of themselves as arrogant fools. They will not apologize for mistakes or make necessary reforms. Instead they will eventually be voted out, forced out in a coup d'état, or overrun by the forces of social media. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
