What is common between the revolution in Tunisia and the ongoing unrest in Egypt? Are they Twitter revolution, Facebook revolution, both or none? The role of Social Media has been the subject of intense debate since the uprising began in Tunisia followed by that in Egypt. Some believe that Social Media has reshaped social activism. And that Twitter, Facebook and many others have empowered the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, mobilize and raise their concerns in a manner unprecedented so far. While many deny the role of Twitter and Facebook, naming it as an act of cyber-utopianism, a belief that the Internet is unambiguously good and that it can free a repressed society from its shackles. But most of us and that includes me too, are of the opinion that Social media technology, though, cannot make a revolution, but can really help to shape the events and they deserve their share of credits for that. The likes of Facebook and twitter really help to accelerate the protests by spreading the news that would otherwise have taken a long time to spread. These tools empower people by allowing them to express themselves with each other and with the world.

What makes a revolution possible? For me, the answer lies in networked communication. Revolution used to occur even when the social media tools were not present and will continue to happen in the future. What changes, is the medium. Earlier, the communication used to take place through personalized gatherings, pamphlets and now through Facebook’s posts, Twitter’s tweets and lakhs and lakhs of bloggers around the world.

A word of caution however, to believe that Social media technology always works in favor of people would be an exaggeration, because, even Governments have the access (and in some manner more than the ordinary citizen) to the information that flows through the pipes. Take the case of Egypt where Government has shut down the entire Internet, apparently cutting it from the entire world. But do you seriously believe that this will pacify the revolution that finds its fuel not from any Twitter or Facebook community but from the frustration of the oppressed people? I guess not.

Social media tools, no doubt, are incredibly powerful because of the number of people using them. They are effective in spreading the word around and generating external support. As Jared Cohen of Google Ideas puts it, they may not be the cause but powerful accelerant. But in the end, a successful revolution still requires people to go into the streets and risk their lives.

So the common trait between the revolution in Tunisia and the ongoing revolution in Egypt is — they all are human revolutions not caused by Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Flickr and many others but they all played their part.