Flash Farce: The Dangers of Social Media Influencing Real World Actions

We're lucky it hasn't happened yet.  Or maybe it has and we don't know it.

We've all heard how "flash mobs", protests such as "Occupy Wall Street", and even revolutions such as Arab Spring can be organized through social media such as Twitter or Facebook.

Viral videos, trending Twitter hash tags, Change.org petitions, Facebook pages...all of these are "tools" used to help bring about social change.

But how many people actually check the origins of a social change campaign or movement? And would it even do them any good?  How would anyone know the true origins, or motivations, behind an online campaign?