Block at Your Own Peril

Regarding the manifest ways in which social media outdid MSM concerning the ongoing Iran protests, The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf writes:

Are we approaching a point where political information is processed so fast that an event happens, information elites weigh in to shape the discourse surrounding it, the conventional wisdom is communicated to Congress, and elected leaders formulate reactions based on public opinion... all before most of even the formerly plugged in members of the public ever learn what on earth is going on, or have a chance to form an opinion? Is anyone who works at a company that blocks their Facebook feed going to be meaningfully disadvantaged in the political process? Egalitarian concerns aside, are the information elites going to set a course, ossify as they always do in their opinions, and influence the nation's course too hastily? Are we on course for a kind of political singularity?

And I respond: Only if we fail to teach our schoolchildren how to use and process social media.

Block at your peril.