Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation bowed to blow back on Facebook, Twitter and other digital platforms on Friday...

That viral protest ignited this week, around the same time as a social networking uproar sprang up against a conservative group’s attempt to force J.C. Penny to ditch openly-gay spokeswoman Ellen DeGeneres...

These successful movements come on the heels of a stunning online campaign by technology companies and average citizens against two pieces of federal legislation, the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and  the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), that were seen as Draconian and censorious.

“There’s a new political and media ecology that social networking provides and it’s not controlled by the mainstream media,” said Andrew Rasiej, the chairman of New York Tech MeetUp, a key opponent of SOPA and PIPA. “It’s controlled by citizens who are able to wield power at a speed that has the mainstream media, the politicians and the institutional players in shock.”

This is an exciting idea, but perhaps its a bit overstated

before Twitter and Facebook got hold of them, SOPA and Susan G. Komen were hardly household names.

Really? I think Susan G. Komen was pretty well known.

But this is the sort of attitude that demonstrates that there is a long way to go:

Tim Stevens, editor-in-chief of the technology blog Engadget, said Friday, "It’s not just techies anymore," he said. "It’s people who are interested in women’s rights and other civil liberties.”

So what are you saying Tim?

That techies aren't interested in women's rights and other civil liberties?

From Ellen DeGeneres to Susan G. Komen: Social Media Proves Unstoppable | Reuters