Follow the leader

Social networking is, as we’ve come to know it, a powerful tool.

Unfortunately — or, perhaps, fortunately — no one told the world’s political leaders.

Activists have used Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a half dozen other social networking sites to rally the masses across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and many other parts of the world to peacefully challenge the powers that be.

And they’ve met with success, even when those rulers reach back for that more familiar but antiquated tool — the gun — to try and hold on a little bit longer.

But while their constituents log on en masse, the world’s political leaders, who could use social media's organizing potential in much the same way, have yet to tap into its power in significant ways.

It seems that the world’s leaders are woefully out of touch — literally.

(Click here to see a map detailing the distribution of social media power around the world)