I doubt someone committing to donate $x for every retweet validates Twitter as an activism tool. It's just a well meaning PR stunt that uses Twitter instead of any number of on/offline tools.
A real test would be something like the protests in Iran. I remember wondering why the regime doesn't just block Twitter, like they do for other sites. Apparently it wasn't worth the bother, the impact was more felt in the Western hyposphere than Iran. Personally what really concerned me was the State Dept asking Twitter to reschedule downtime for this. I'd hope they have somewhat better sources.
Yes, I'm not claiming this was any great revolutionary activism - but it was action beyond "Western self-congratulation" as John writes about in the linked post.
People took out their wallets, and paid. See if you can find the 28 people who matched. It's not easy - they're not getting any PR. This was someone who on a whim decided to attempt to raise money for a charity through the Twitter medium, and he gained a lot of support. The trigger was favs, not RTs - I'd argue it's not a PR stunt.
I do share your cynicism about the Iran situation, but I think Twitter can be used as an effective tool around smaller issues as demonstrated.
What if in the future there are 2 billion twitter users instead of 170 million? Do you think there will generally be higher awareness of global issues? Before you can act on something you need to be aware of it right?
I have a friend here in the states who is from Iran and he spent many nights during the protests refreshing twitter and Facebook. I can't say whether twitter changed the way the protests went, but they seemed the best way to get a sense of what was happening.
On the other hand, if raising $15,000 for breast cancer (why is it always breast cancer and never bowel cancer btw?) is the biggest thing that has been accomplished by twitter after all the attention it has gotten, then its potential so far has been somewhat overstated.
For a sense of scale, I googled "raises $15000 for breast cancer" and found the following folks who had also raised $15000 for breast cancer sans worldwide brouhaha:
"Maquette Bank Employees Raise $15000 to Fight Breast Cancer"
"Buckley Senior Raises $15000 for Cancer Research through Cabaret"
"In conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Special Effects Hair Salon raised over $15000 hosting a Cut-A-Thon fundraising event..."
I think Twitter and any other social platforms are good for the kind of activism that you stated above.
However for something so revolutionary, it takes more than just being a slacktivist who sits their ass on a comfy chair while doing a 'political reformation'.
A real test would be something like the protests in Iran. I remember wondering why the regime doesn't just block Twitter, like they do for other sites. Apparently it wasn't worth the bother, the impact was more felt in the Western hyposphere than Iran. Personally what really concerned me was the State Dept asking Twitter to reschedule downtime for this. I'd hope they have somewhat better sources.