How much power DOES social media have politically?

Lately I have been struggling to convey just how vital I think the surge in social media as a political movement is.

It is democracy in it's purest sense. If enough people feel strongly about something, they are joining together to discuss, plan and take action.

We've seen the enormous pressure that Lansley has faced over his NHS reforms after staggering public reaction online. I don't believe it is a coincidence that Dr Evan Harris, Lib (@DrEvanHarris), the champion of this opposition is also one of the most active and engaged MPs on twitter.

We've seen how groups like the Broken of Britain have shaped the questions asked in parliament through their forensic research and skill in building active supporters through various social media.

We've seen the u-turn on forests following a vast swell of support for the 38 Degrees campaign. The online petition attracted over half a million signatures.

Around the world, we've seen those living in fear under oppressive regimes tweet information they could never have shared with us before. By building support online, many went on to organise protests that involved 100,000s of people in hours.

In the last few days, we've just seen how twitter and Facebook and prominent blogs like Liberal Conspiracy have played a part in forcing major multinational advertisers to pull their support from the News of the World over the phone hacking scandal.

How many of these victories social media can truly claim may be debatable, but what is unquestionable, is that politics seems to be changing almost daily. I don't think politicians are keeping up with the speed, passion and commitment of the social media phenomenon.

After the helplessness and frustration of Iraq and MPs expenses, we were promised a "New Politics" but we were let down spectacularly. The coalition that seemed to offer so much hope gave us VAT rises and tuition fees and tried to privatise our NHS For many, it seems to have been a disappointment too far. People seem determined to make their own "New Politics" and are increasingly leading the way where they feel politicians or media are failing.

When the US stormed Osama Bin Laden's compound, an entirely un-knowing IT consultant (@ReallyVirtual ) tweeted the event live and now has over 90,000 followers.

Tonight, at 9pm, someone claiming to be an ex-News of the World journalist (@ExNOTWJourno) says that he will be releasing a press statement along with 16 other ex-employees of News International. If it is genuine, they will be shaping their own news, uncensored in front of the entire world. He already has over 14,000 followers on twitter.

There has never been a time when ordinary people had this kind of power and I find it thrilling, but it makes me nervous too. I watch Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband suggesting "enquiries" that will undoubtedly take years to come to any conclusion and am more and more convinced that social media will know most of what transpires within months if not weeks. The world has changed and increasingly our established society seems to be left behind.

To ensure that social media does not become the new vigilante, I believe more strongly every day that politicians need to entirely rethink the way parliament and politics works. I think they need to engage as never before and quickly.

What is becoming clearer by the day is that for the first time, both groups have power. At least to some degree.