What is the role of social media in the Arab revolutions?

With people arguing that the revolutions in the Middle East can be called social media revolutions, one sometimes asks oneself whether or not those people are aware of the fact that they not only show of their ignorance and lack of understanding but also a huge disrespect to what is happening in the Middle East right now. A different way of looking at the role of social media in the upheavals/civil wars/revolutions that we are witnessing is offered by the prominent twitter personality of Sultan al-Qassemi, who stated that social media helped make the uprisings "more efficiently". Check out the article about al-Qassemi and his personal contribution to the Egyptian revolution over twitter on :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jul/08/sultan-al-qassemi-twitter