I’ve tried to remain neutral in the great “social media is-or-isn’t having a role in democratic revolutions” debate.  I’ve seen some good arguments on both sides, have often chuckled at the impossible fantasies of freedom technologists, while shaking my head at the obstinate refuseniks who can’t see what’s happening right before their eyes.  There are so many problems with the debate – namely the expectation that a dictatorship must be shattered in order to say that social media makes a difference, as well as the basic issue of causation:  of course these movements aren’t happening because of social media, they are just using it efficiently.  At any rate, here Erik Sass fires a few shots across the bow of Malcolm Gladwell’s pessimistic perspective:

Once again, Gladwell tries to use historical analogies to make an embarrassingly simpleminded argument: basically, because revolutions happened in the past without social media, social media didn’t play a role in the current Middle East revolutions.

No, really, that’s what he’s saying: “The lesson here is just because innovations in communications technology happen does not mean that they matter… What evidence is there that social revolutions in the pre-Internet era suffered from a lack of cutting-edge communications and organizational tools?”

Presuming Gladwell isn’t joking, I would offer this response: no one ever said that social revolutions in the pre-Internet era suffered from such a lack. Indeed, that’s kind of the whole point: every successful revolution has made use of the most advanced communications available at the time, which often (but not always) allowed rebels to outwit sclerotic governments which were behind the technological times.

Clay Shirky, the media’s favorite social media commentator and professor at New York University, speaks with the Wall Street Journal in this interview about the use of Facebook and Twitter in uprisings of Tunisia, Egypt, and beyond.

In the wake of the Tuscon shooting, many people are concerned about the role social media plays in violent acts.

“Today, in addition to radio and TV,  radical rhetoric expressed on social networks can also cause hundreds or even thousands of followers to impulsively act out based on the belief that their actions are in alignment with a greater mission, condoned by political leaders,” Ron Callari of InventorSpot said.

Some are saying this is the case with Jared Lee Loughner, the lead suspect in the case of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. As a response to potential danger incited by social media, politicians and concerned citizens alike are suggesting stronger restrictions and mediation of social media.

Brian Crowley of the Crowley Political Report believes firmly in controlling dialogue .

“Our policy is that if comments are over the top or too strong we don’t allow them, we delete them.”

The real issue, he says, is the follower’s reaction to harsh comments made by politicians such as Sarah Palin’s. Crowley suggests political leaders should help to control the dialogue. Some are taking this mindset to heart.

Sen. Ellen Corbett of California introduced the Social Networking Privacy Act in February. The bill “would impose civil penalties on social networks displaying home addresses and phone numbers of users under 18 years old.” San Francisco based social media giant, Facebook lobbied vehemently against the proposal with support from a number of child safety organizations until it was turned down.

“We were concerned the unintended consequences would be the incentive for minors to be deceptive about their age and, in so doing, lose the many protections in place (to) protect their personal information.”

Social media safety is the top priority of all parties involved, but the proper method of ensuring a safe social media community cannot be agreed upon.

Though social media has the potential to encourage various types violent acts, Enough Is Enough President Donna Rice Hughes is worried about the implications of a government enforced regulation on social media.

“The biggest issue is: where is the line drawn between public safety and the first amendment?”

I can’t say I am not a little irked that new media technology didn’t exist when I was a Girl Scout. The Girl Scouts of America will kick-off its annual cookie sale this weekend with the adoption of the web and social media to recruit this year’s cookie consumers.

There are no more extensive written lists that inevitably get lost.

The Cookie Club “is an interactive, online cookie business for girls. The password-protected website teaches girls about goals, tracks progress, and allows girls to send e-cards to friends and families. Customers use an online order form to submit their “promised” cookie order that is automatically recorded on girls’ Cookie Club” account pages.”

Instead of trudging through snow and elements to make orders, girls can also encourage buyers to locate cookies through free social media applications. iPod, iPhone and android phones will have a downloadable application to seek out community cookie sales. The Boy Scouts of America began using iPhone apps similarly earlier this year rather than having to carry their essential handbook.

Cookie deliveries will still be completed as they have in the past; with the visit of a smiling Girl Scout lugging a mound of delectable cookies, maybe in a wagon or mom’s van. At least we know some things will never change.

Recently the talk of Klout has been a hot topic. The metrics site scores users social media influence through various categories to come up with their overarching reach. It then “identifies influencers on topics across the social web.” Deadbolt.com recently reported Justin Bieber ranks second to President Barack Obama as the most influential user of social media in the world. But Klout calculations tell us the Biebs is actually more influential than Barack. Justin Bieber’s Klout score is 100, the highest a user can achieve. Barack Obama’s is 88.

Klout gauges our influence based on amplification probability, true reach and network score, but does social media influence make any difference in the real world? Bieber says it does. Yesterday he tweeted:

Leave it to the 16-year-old teen heartthrob to make a profound statement about the importance of social media.

Social media provides an open forum to explain ourselves. We can show others who we are, what we do and what our interests are through use of Facebook and Twitter. Our presence in it determines opportunities by giving every person a public persona and allowing businesses to produce ROI. It allows us to open ourselves to the conversation in order to have an influence in both the social media and real world.

Thanks to social media we can track every moment of Justin Bieber’s life, and be sure that he definitely is not deleting his Twitter account.

Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) joined Twitter with some skepticism after a bout of near homelessness. After finding a community of support in social media, Horvath founded We Are Visible, an organization that strives to empower people experiencing poverty and/or homelessness by teaching them how to use social media. Despite Malcolm Galdwell’s accusation that social media is not a form of activism, in the past year new technologies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs are helping to draw attention and support for causes all throughout the world.

“The social basis of activism explains why Facebook, an increasingly popular social  networking site, is a natural companion for tech-savvy organizers.  Because of the site’s massive user base and its free tools, Facebook is almost too attractive to pass up,” said Dan Schulz, writer of A DigiActive Introduction to Facebook Activism.  This sentiment can also be applied to Twitter, YouTube and blogs as a tool for global activism in 2010.

Egypt:

In September, Egypt’s #Oraby2010 Twitter campaign proved to be successful in preventing the country’s government from intruding on pro-democracy demonstrations. Organizers and supporters used the name of retired Army General, Ahmed Orabi, as a Twitter hashtag to recruit protesters and deter authorities.

Similarly, a number of young Egyptians created “social video ads”  for Closing the Gap, a project aimed at raising the discussion of media responsibility. The project was organized through blogs by The Egyptian Life Center for Creativity and Culture and American Freedom House. “The goal of Closing The Gap is to train a group of 30 young media activists with interests in new media and its potential role in society. The project served these interests by giving them a chance to represent their views on the usage of new and appropriate media to advocate progressive ideals.” The ads addressed varied issues, including: sexual harassment, parental responsibility, creativity and political involvement. View “I’m Egyptian,” a  Closing the Gap social advertisement.

Iran:

Iran’s Green Movement mobilized citizen activism through its use of blogs and Facebook in September 2010. Members encouraged Iranians to peacefully “remind the gang of hoodlums running this great country that the Green Movement is alive in the home of millions of Iranians across the country.” To do so, opposition members and supporters chanted “Allah-O-Akbar” (God is Great) from rooftops.

Six months earlier the opposition group used Facebook and Twitter in attempt to save a 20-year-old University of Damghan student from being executed. Supporters were asked to change their profile pictures to an image of Mohammad Amin Valian and blog about the injustice being done to him. Gamal Eid, founder and director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said: “We have learned from the Iranian protesters how important Twitter can be in delivering a message. It is like an information wire service for all people who are logged on and even quicker than using a phone.”

Chile:

In August, more than 3,000 people gathered in downtown Santiago, Chile to oppose the building of a thermal energy plant on Humboldt Penguin National Reserve after being notified through multiple forms of social media. “In recent years, environmental awareness has become something of a global trend. It’s ‘cool’ to be green now, as seen by the rapidly growing numbers of corporate social responsibility campaigns and Facebook groups of the ‘clean up the streets/stop littering/start carpooling’ variety,” Ali Abdel Moshen of the Almasryalyoum said.

I can’t help think of Eat, Pray, Love after reading all these stories of mobilization through social media. Not to spoil the book (or movie) for you, but writer Elizabeth Gilbert recruited her friends and family through the help of new media to raise $18,000 for a family in Bali as her own birthday gift. Many people have made strides in their efforts for change using new media technologies in 2010. Though Galdwell argued that social media is not a means for action, the stories I listed above are a testament to the power of these new technologies and their ability to help incite action both politically and socially.

There is no doubt that in 2011 and the years to come we will continue to see social media as a tool for bringing about action and change.

Tiffany G Smith is an Account Executive for K Social Media Consulting LLC

Everyone else is making their predictions for the future of social media in 2011, so I thought I would do the same.

Earlier this year a paramedic for American Medical Response of Connecticut was released from her position after posting a series of comments venting frustrations about her boss. Such comments would not have been punishable had they been made around a water cooler, but because they were made in a public forum (Facebook) Dawnmarie Souza was fired over the act. 2010 was the year social media became a monster. It grew and grew until, finally it had to be stopped by workroom policies.

Though countless experts have warned against the perils of posting disdain for a person or company; Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media are now the most prominent form of public criticism. But, corporations and small businesses alike are afraid of the damage that can be done by social media because they cannot control the message. It is a giant that takes great knowledge and planning to tame. Common Craft released a video earlier this month about “Social Media in the Workplace” that discussed the nervousness companies feel from a lack of control in the social media community and the means to staying out of negative spotlight. New social media policies and education about how to use these tools are the answer.

Several other cases have arisen similar to that of American Medical Response after workers publicly shared their frustrations about a job. But, the specific social media policies that are now being put in place will bring a shift in what people express through social media.. No longer will there be boss bashing or public venting.

Social media is the new water cooler according to Ron Nurwisah of the National Post. “Twitter is bringing back appointment television and the day-after water cooler chat, albeit in a slightly different, more immediate form.” Because of well-enforced workroom policies, social media will maintain itself as a forum for laid-back water cooler chat – only Beiber banter and other pop culture talk allowed in 2011.

The other day I made a comment to a friend that I couldn’t remember the last time I handwrote a note, a letter or something more than a few words or numbers long. This thought was spawned by a Facebook friend’s New Year’s resolution to write a handwritten note to one person every day for the next 365 days. What a beautiful idea, I thought. It is so personal and connected. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge advocate of social media and its benefits, but there are many people as of late worried about the ways in which social media separates us from one another instead of bringing us together.

There has been a trend of various “isolation experiments” lately to demonstrate concerns about social media. Some are utilizing social media as their only form of communication while others are giving it up completely to prove a point about its role in our lives. Regardless, the conclusion of all of the experiments I have found is that social media has too great of an influence in people’s lives.

Two Portland, Ore. artists recently completed the Public Isolation Project, an “analogy of the contemporary experience living in the internet age.” Cristin Norine lived on a busy Portland street corner for one month in an art gallery. Her every move on display through the gallery windows, but her only contact to the outside world was through social media. Since ending the project on Dec. 7, Norine has taken a hiatus from computers and all things social networking according to her blog. She said she has a new appreciation for fresh air and has a better attention span not having to divide her attention between several forms of communication.

Students a Shoreline High School gave up social media altogether and embraced the ways of another time – 1995. The 600+ teens took part in an experiment suggested by Trent Mitchell, the school’s video production teacher, after he saw the box office hit “The Social Network.” The weeklong task required students to abandon texting, email, Facebook and Twitter. Similarly, students at a Harrisburg University of Science and Technology reported feeling more able to concentrate and less stressed after participating in a social media blackout. Although the Provost recognized the results were not official because of the small size of the student body, he said “this is fertile ground for research.”

Although I am skeptical about the scientific accuracy of this research, I have decided to take it into consideration. Recent reports show a downward trend in the use of the U.S. Postal Service and other snail mail senders throughout the world. Even sending Christmas cards is becoming an anomaly. My estimate is that many people (myself included) forget to find balance in their lives and overindulge in social media for their soul form of communication.

So, after much thought, I have decided to take on my own experiment. Like my friend I will write at least one handwritten note every day beginning Jan. 1. However, throughout the experiment I will continue to engage in social media just as I have been. I will also keep a blog sharing notes and letters that I have sent and received. The blog will serve as a forum to compare and contrast the differences in connection between either forms of communication – handwritten or digital.

To ensure that I am growing from this experience and allowing myself the opportunity to connect through handwritten communication just as I would through social media, I will invite my social network to write me letters, notes, postcards etc. My hope is to respond to those who write me and to find the point of personal connection in both social media and handwritten communication. Visit www.thelettersocial.wordpress.com to track my experience beginning Jan. 1.

Tiffany G Smith is an Account Executive at K Social Media.com

Who needs the postal service when we have email and social networking? The Herald Sun reports that numerous post offices in Australia are closing. As of now 27 post offices will be closing, but others are being monitored. The United States Post Office introduced a similar plan last year to close more than 1000 branches. Some are blaming new technology for the change. Do you see email and social networking replacing the postal service?

How would you feel if you were required to have a Facebook account? Is it fair for your boss to make you sign up for Twitter, Yammer and other sites? Don’t worry it hasn’t happened (yet), but the growing use of social media might cause a shift in the workplace.

It seems like since its inception employers and employees have argued whether social media should be banned or permitted in the workplace. In April 2010 Robert Half Technology released a study about the current trends of social media within companies. The study showed that 23 percent of CIO’s are becoming stricter with their social media policies and 55 percent are banning its use at work altogether. “The challenge for companies is balancing the benefits of social media in the workplace with the risks,” said Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology. Still, while some businesses are preventing its use in the workplace, others are embracing it. Here’s an idea, what if we encouraged, or even required, employees to use it?

Sure, Facebook started as a .edu, but that was a collegiate setting for students to socialize. Now, corporations, non-profits and even school districts across the country are adopting professional Facebook use. In April of this year the Community Unit School District 300 in Illinois created a Facebook page to communicate with its students. Soon after, the school’s art teacher, Laura LaRue, began a departmental page in which she could assign projects from and correspond with students. “It’s just such a great tool to communicate. It can’t really be ignored anymore,’ LaRue said.

Similarly, Miami-Dade area schools have adopted social media tools. “The only way my class communicates its articles or what’s happening is through their Facebook,” says journalism teacher Mary K. Sullivan at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High School. “So many kids are hooked to their Blackberries I can reach them anytime and they’ll be in my class in five minutes.”

In Illinois, teachers are required to register their Facebook pages with the school district. The administration also requires staff to list a responsible party for pages and publish a legal disclaimer on them. Though the districts worry about Facebook as a distraction for students in school, they also understand its benefits (especially among the iGeneration). While it is not yet a requirement, both districts highly encourage teachers to use social media as a form of communication.

I am ecstatic that social media is being used in so many different settings and its spreading use within professional communities got me thinking about appropriate social networking policies in the workplace. In regard to an educational setting, social media use just makes perfect sense. If kids are “hooked to their blackberries,” then their most favorite form of communication should be adopted among staff to reach them.

I am curious to know if there are currently employers requiring employees to utilize social networking tools outside of the communication field. Do you think more employers will change their social networking policies to ensure every employee uses social media for the good of the organization? If so, where is the boundary between personal and professional social media and how integrated should these facets of our lives be?

Tiffany G Smith is an Account Executive at K Social Media Consulting LLC