Between the 2008 election and the current situation in Iran, social technologies have changed politics in very real, very meaningful ways.
Now, with these immediate, uncontrolled communication channels available (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook), citizens finally have the ability to share what’s really going on without the media filter.
Iranian leaders didn’t anticipate this, but other repressive regimes will.
So we have to be on the lookout for when these channels get shut down or attempts are made to co-opt them by governments bent on spreading misinformation.