Election 2008: What was the most important impact of social media on the U.S. elections?

Surely there were many things about the 2008 U.S. election that had nothing to do with social media -a souring economy, an unpopular war, the unique nature of the candidates - but I think that social media was the key in many ways. It enabled people to participate in the election in many ways that had never happened to anywhere near such a degree before in American elections. People could contribute to a candidate online small amounts that added up to massive amounts. People could form activist communities easily and express their ideas openly - even when those ideas diverged with those of the candidate who they supported. Most importantly, perhaps was the global impact of social media, which enabled people to engage the election around the world as if it were their own.

Social media also enabled the truth of many matters that were normally feeding the media "spin cycle" to come to the fore far more easily and get debunked more easily than ever before. People understood the facts of this election very clearly in most instances, even though PR agents were busy trying to spin disinformation oftentimes.