Nobel Prize buzz for Facebook's Zuckerberg

Speculation is heating up that social media entrepreneurs such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg might be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter played a critical role in spreading information during the Arab Spring uprisings in countries such as Syria, Egypt and Tunisia.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, stoked speculation Wednesday that the award might go to social media leaders for their indirect role in the Arab Spring.

 "For me and the committee, it is quite obvious if you look at the world today and see what is happening out there," Jagland told The Associated Press. "What are the major forces pushing the world in the right direction?"

When Jagland was asked whether the Arab Spring would be the source for the winner, he said, "That is one, but there are others, too."

Jagland did undermine the Zuckerberg theory when he said the winner would not necessarily be "a big name, but a big mission — something important for the world."

Zuckerberg, who was Time's man of the year in 2010, downplays the role that social media has played in the Middle East, The Los Angeles Times noted.

"It would be extremely arrogant for any specific technology company to claim any meaningful role," he said earlier this year in Paris. "The thing that was both necessary and sufficient was a population of people who felt very strongly that change needed to happen." 

Zuckerberg, 27, would be the youngest person ever to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

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