Can social media save the planet?

That's the question my friend Neil asked on Facebook this morning. I, of course, had an answer, which I reproduce here:

"I half agree with Jonathan (who argued that Social Media is just a tool and that humans have to use it in order "avert global catastrophe"). I wouldn't downplay the significance of "tools." Humans don't really change - we're still the same mix of selfish and selfless genes we had centuries ago. But technology/tools do change and, in doing so, change us; first by making us richer and so less focused on bare survival and more concerned with the greater good (seee Maslow/Inglehart); second, by allowing us coordinate to work together toward that greater good (see Jonathan above).

"But what I think Jonathan leaves out is the danger of connectivity. Nine times out of ten, when humans work together they usually do so in positive or neutral ways (thus the "progress" of humankind - see Wright's NonZero). But every once in a while when we band together on a large scale we can create some pretty horrific messes, either through shortsightedness (financial crisis) or outright evil (pick your genocide). The frightening thing about Social Media is that it allows for mob hysteria on a global scale. When a nation loses its collective mind, only a sliver of humanity is affected. Today social media has the potential of leaping national firewalls and, although the chances are slim and far off, of wreaking global havoc. In short: social media will likely save the planet, unless it destroys it first."