No sooner did I finish an article about how much people were talking on social media about Susan G. Komen’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood than does Komen release a statement saying that they’re reversing the decision and will, in fact, continue to support Planned Parenthood.
BREAKING: Komen reverses position on Planned Parenthood, pledges to continue funding http://t.co/mPsrAfyt
In a statement just released, Komen apologized for acting like jerks and pledged to continue to fund Planned Parenthood. Almost immediately, the terms “Cure Foundation” and “Planned Parenthood” become worldwide trending topics on Twitter.
So here’s the thing: obviously people took to social media to voice their disagreement and a lot of the support for Planned Parenthood was rallied on sites like Facebook and Twitter. So.. how important was the role of social media in Komen’s decision? Reddit spearheaded the SOPA blackout last month to dazzling effect and now legions of Tweeters and Facebookers have seemingly turned back a very unpopular decision made by a private charity.
Is social media the new political constituency? Dunno, but it’s obviously flexing its muscle in very convincing ways.