What is the role of social media in democratic movements? Does
social media lessen popular commitment to political causes or
shift the balance of power toward the citizenry? Recent protests
in Iran, Moldova, Kenya, and elsewhere are proving to be the
ultimate testing grounds for social media in authoritarian
politics. SMS, Twitter, Facebook – in the summer of last year
these communication tools grew into something more profound than
simple social outlets. All across Iran, people took to the
streets bearing mobile phones and were backed by an array of
online citizens. At first a tool for the development and
distribution of news where none would have existed before,
social media then turned into apparatus for organization and
even revolution. Social media is founded on interactivity and an
increase in the amount and velocity of information flows. Its
inherent social nature leads to mass signaling of the actions of
others in civic life – a signal for protest followed by another
and then yet another can swiftly t