The Social Media Revolutions.

It seemed an eternity: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's stubborn resistance to calls from demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square to "Just leave!" In truth, of course, the relatively peaceful deposing of the autocratic regime has moved astonishingly quickly. Just eighteen days have passed since the Egyptian people took a cue from nearby Tunisia and revolted against their own oppression.

From the U.S., we watched the news on CNN and MSNBC, spellbound by the video images. We read detailed accounts online and in the newspaper, grasping for accurate details. Even today -- before I learned of Mubarak's resignation -- beginning my morning ritual, I flicked the remote control button to have the TV news in the background while scanning the newspaper. And there it was: the disconnect between the immediacy of electronic media and the lag with the more comfortable printed media. As sounds and sights of jubilation in the streets of Cairo lept from the screen, my newspaper's headlines delivered disappointing headlines, "Defiant Mubarak Refuses to Quit."

As CNN's Wolf Blitzer observed that Mubarak has finally acquiesced to the revolution and handed over leadership to the millitary, Blitzer attributed the uprising to "cable TV news and the Internet." It caught my attention as being rather solicitous of the significance of cable news because I was aware of the apparent roles of reviled Julian Assange's WikiLeaks in exposing corruption in the governments of the revolting nations combined with democratic exchanges and organization through social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, prompting Mubarak's government to shut down Egypt's Internet service providers. Along with the rest of the world, I had observed the concern over detained Google executive Wael Ghonim, and then the relief and his rock star reception as he was released and he bravely returned to join his friends in Tahrir Square. But I hadn't been aware of the significance of cable TV news directly to the revolution.

Yes, cable TV news had been significant to me as an observer, and likely to other outsiders who actually could lend significant voice in pressuring the Mubarak regime to step down, but not to the Egyptians in rebellion. I had felt my heart swell in pride and support as CNN's Anderson Cooper made an impassioned call for Mubarak to stop lying to his people and the world about his history and intentions and resign immediately, even as U.S. President Barak Obama hesitated to take a firm stand against the long-time ally.

The telling sound byte came moments later as Blitzer interviewed a jubilant Ghonim, "First Tunisia, now Egypt, what's next? " asked Blitzer.

Google's Ghonim blurted, "Ask Facebook!"

An incredulous Blitzer pressed, "You're giving Facebook a lot of credit for this?"

"Yes. I want to meet [Facebook founder] Mark Zuckerberg one day and thank him, actually," Ghonim enthused.

So, there you have it -- The Social Media Revolutions. Facebook and Twitter, hand-in-hand with WikiLeaks and Google.

Viva la Egypt! Viva la Tunisia! Viva la freedom!