The impact of social media on Arab spring has been debated since protests began, and will likely be debated for several years to come. Pollack asserts, however, that efforts in Tunisia started in 1998, when Takriz was formed to advocate for free speech and started efforts to move more people online. As late as 2008, just 3,000 Tunisaians were on Facebook; by the start of this year’s riots, that had jumped to 1.97 million, or more than half of the country’s entire population.