it’s true, though, facebook is coagulating lots of such protest movement, but i wouldn’t characterize it as anything unprecedented: the italian blogosphere, online fora, IM, SMS text-messages, etc. have been and still are quite rich with a similar outpouring, and let’s do not forget that in the recent past comedian beppe grillo had a (brief but important) success in mobilizing large crowds against politicians and for the “v-day” basically using only net tools and social networks

as for “the tipping point (or a critical mass)”, that’s always an issue: how and when can we establish that such virtual protest gives way to an actual political movement? is it facebook just a clever toy sandbox or could it really become a tool for opening up the ‘national consciousness’? too eraly to say, but particularly in this specific case i’d rather see it as another great communication tool, nothing more – a tool of its own, of course, but similar to cell phones in that context, and italians are cell top users throughout the world