Bono: ‘The revolution will be tweeted’

Speaking on Radio 702 in Johannesburg, U2 lead singer Bono spoke lyrically about the changes that are being wrought by 21st century social media, and exclaimed enthusiastically that “the revolution will not be televised, it’ll be tweeted”.

Three days after massively successful concert in Johannesburg, Bono spoke of his excitement about the situation in Egypt and how it shows how the massive potential of the next generation to leverage the tools of mobile and social media to “get a lot of things right”.

He cited the example of truck drivers in Africa who are SMS’ing a website to find out how much to bribe a border when they are approaching, or how long the wait is at the border post.

“The journey of information technology is always towards information. The more info there is out there, the harder it is to be corrupt.”

Having attended a conference on African development in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Bono was blown away by the “genius of how people are using tech” and how tech-savvy African activists are. “The more African involvement in initiatives like the One campaign, the more people are going to see that side of Africa.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Bono also revealed that the track “Breathe” on the latest U2 album was written from the point of view of Nelson Mandela, as he quoted extensively from the song.

U2 perform in Cape Town on Friday night as part of their 360 Degree world tour.