The revolution is in the streets, and it smells of blood.

Today's reading provides an excellent critique on the implementation of social media in popular uprisings, albeit, undervaluing this technology from the outset of the article.  Having studied these events in depth, as they happened, in my many Political Science courses, it occurs to me that while social media may not have been the most effective tool in the rebel arsenal for the duration of the Arab Spring, it was undoubtedly the prime mover.  When it was discovered that a young Tunisian man lit himself on fire in the name of dissent, it made shock waves felt a world away.  Well connected activists could not only communicate amongst themselves, but with social media as their proxy, could also generate international support, concern, and engagement for their cause.

Nothing will ever replace the demonstration on the streets - true, revolutions cannot be run online - true, but one more means of communication can hardly be a bad thing in highly controlled and censored countries.  While the author suggests that there are far too many inhibiting factors in an autocratic state that render internet communications nearly useless, he must have never heard of proxy servers, or TOR, or SATCOMs... There is always a way around control, it is just a matter of finding what loophole is easily exploitable, and the technologically savvy win that battle every time.