The explosion in social media creates controversy between those who think it’s a technological messiah and those who criticize it as digital hot air. These recent events provide a more realistic picture of the actual effect:
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign used Facebook, MySpace and other social media outlets beginning as early as 2007—combined with traditional technologies.
Iran’s opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi used Facebook and Twitter in June 2009 to circumvent the Iranian government’s attempt to silence his campaign. Protestors used Twitter to report news and coordinate activities.
A British parliamentarian asked a question in October 2009 about a U.K. oil company, whose lawyers served a media injunction preventing reporting of the question and a “super-injunction” preventing media from mentioning the original injunction. Soon, key facts went public on Twitter and the injunctions were withdrawn.
