Is the Impact of Social Media Activism Exaggerated?

According to Malcolm Gladwell, the answer is "yes." He contrasts the civil rights movement with today's social media activism in his New Yorker article, Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted. It is a good article but I think Gladwell fails to give sufficient credit to communication mediums. How successful would the civil rights movement had been in the 1950-60s if it wasn't televised? [JH]