North Africa is alight with rebellion. The first shots of this wave of revolution were fired from keyboards and BlackBerrys over the wires of the internet, but the largest weapons brought to bear have been the traditional media still in the hands of the leaders of the countries. Colonel Gaddafi still postulates on radio and television whilst his opponents gather their strength via Tweets and Facebook entries.

The war in the ether is being mirrored by the battles on the ground. The insurgency fights and moves; the army grinds on. The battle for the hearts and minds of those still loyal to their leader is being fought by modern media, whilst the returning fire is broadcast on evening news bulletins. We can sit back in the comfortable West and judge that those still loyal are fighting a losing battle regardless of their weapons and mass media, we can admire the Resistance as they scoot around in pick-up trucks with AK47s in one hand and iPhones in the other, but which will turn out to be the more powerful?

Many, many years ago Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote that the pen is mightier than the sword, echoing the words of Shakespeare in 1600 when Rosencrantz in Hamlet said that "... many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose quills." Is the Tweet mightier than the tank? In a world of mass communication and instant awareness it is becoming ever clearer that the wisdom in Voltaire’s words still holds true. Repressive regimes across the globe crack down on the web and build up their arms, but the weapon has not yet been invented that will stop an idea dead in its tracks, whilst the means of spreading these ideas grows more powerful by the day.

The flexibility and omnipresence of the masses has always existed, now they can be linked together to act as one via a hand-held device. Whilst the leaders and despots of the world wield traditional power via armies and broadcast media, they cannot hope to overcome the will of the people for long. Now that the will of the people can be combined and coordinated over vast distances and in real time, those in power will have to embrace the modern world or fall victim to it.

I just hope they have enough money stashed in Switzerland to last them.

The influence of the Social web is immense and the same communication methods can be hugely powerful for peaceful projects such as raising money for famine relief, ecological campaigns and other projects beneficial to the human condition. When an idea goes viral it has a power all of its own and this can be seen in commercial and business examples of the use of social media.

So, on a more cheery note, why not get your message across using our Social Media packages? You might just start a revolution of your own?