Did you know that there are more devices connected to the internet than there are people on Earth?

Yes, some of these belong to drug dealers. But beyond this unfortunate truism, the massive rise in affordable, portable technology has meant that we – all of us – are now empowered to react to the events around us in a real time basis. We are now the journalists. We are now part of the story. For the first time in history, the power is with us.

The examples go on and on. The ground operation that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden broke first on Twitter. Tweets about earthquakes reach people 30 seconds before they feel the tremors. Ten million online signatures and three million emails shut down SOPA. In January of this year, Facebook saw six times more traffic than Google.

This infographic takes a closer look at how social media and the internet bring power to the people.

(Source: Open Site. Speed dial image via Shutterstock.)