( CNN ) -- As Tunisia adjusts to a new government , Selma Beji is cautiously optimistic about the future -- and freedoms -- of her fellow Tunisians . A Tunisian native who is pursuing a master 's degree in the United States , Beji said she was amazed that demonstrations -- driven largely by young adults and social media -- have led to such an uprising , which some people call the `` Jasmine Revolution . '' `` We were like , this is going to die off , '' said Beji , whose family lives in the northern suburbs of Tunis . But `` Facebook was the drive of this revolution . Everybody was on Facebook ... If these protests started five years ago , they would have died . '' President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 's departure followed weeks of protests over what Tunisians said were poor living conditions , high unemployment , government corruption and repression . Al Kallel , a Tunisian native living in California , and a group of Tunisian friends held up signs at Facebook 's headquarters in Palo Alto , California , on Saturday to `` thank Facebook for enabling our nation ( both inside and outside the country ) to freely share their opinion online , bridging our way to democracy . '' Kallel said when he lived in Tunisia , residents did n't have access to Facebook . `` You ca n't pass info around without being censored , '' Kallel told CNN 's iReport . The Tunisian unrest were sparked by the suicide of an unemployed college graduate in December . The man set himself on fire in front of a government building in the town of Sidi Bouzid after police confiscated his fruit cart , saying he was selling without a permit , according to Amnesty International . He died January 4 from his injuries . The event tore the lid off what appears to have been long-simmering fury at Ben Ali and his associates . Tunisians accuse the ruling circle of rampant corruption and nepotism . After a month of largely leaderless popular protests against the government , Ben Ali fled the country on Friday , and Fouad Mebazaa , the speaker of parliament , was sworn in the following day as interim president , and new elections are due within 60 days . The instability could be an omen of the future since Tunisia has been far from the only Arab nation with a long-time president and a young , underemployed population . Beji said some of her friends in Tunisia who have college degrees are unemployed . `` I 'm very optimistic about ( employment ) after this , '' she said . `` I think more investors are going to start coming into the country . The country has a lot of potential . '' Already , filters on websites such as YouTube -- put in place under Ben Ali -- were dropped , and internet speed picked up considerably -- a development that followed the new government 's vow to ease restrictions on freedoms . Beji said she hopes the next president will support freedoms for Tunisians -- especially after what regular citizens showed what they are capable of . `` I think the next president is going to be scared . The revolution happened with no arms , no guns , no nothing -- just people on the streets , '' she said . `` I think the next president would be a little worried if he did n't give us freedom of any kind . ''
` ` ' was the leader of this revolution , '' Selma is ##a . Tunisia , like other Arab countries , has young , underemployed people . She says ` ` the country has a lot of people ''