Is social media all hype, nothing else?

Social media is abuzz about the 106 tonnes of ivory that will go up in flames tomorrow in a carefully orchestrated fire set for the Nairobi National Park. This will be the fourth ivory burn to be held in Kenya and it will occur "in protest at the continued slaughter of the country's most iconic species," according to the Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Kitili Mbathai.

Social media has been cited for bringing down Chase Bank recently and for inciting the so-called Arab Spring. It will invariably help spread information about the landmark ivory burn, but what power does it have to change human behaviour and ensure the survival of various endangered species?