Broad topics we might want to look at

A (research) question I'd be interested in along those lines is whether social media activism (of the really basic sort, changing your profile picture to the Egyptian flag, or your location to Iran on twitter) has any sort of correlation with, if you'll forgive the slightly perjorative phrasing, more meaningful acts of engagement. By which I mean, are the people who get really into political causes on social media more likely to get involved in more traditional ways? Or less likely?

Obviously young people are generally both more active online and less inclined to political participation, but I suspect the degree to which this is true is well-established and can thus be controlled for.

In any case, as far as our survey questions go, I think asking about social media activism is definitely worthwhile, but I also think we should be sure to distinguish it from more traditional(/impactful :P) activity types.

I agree with you, Ryan. I think it's important to find out whether an increase in the use of social media sites lead to an increase in political activism, but I think it's even more important to determine exactly what types of social media are most effective in bringing about political activism. I don't think we should equate all types of social media as being equal. For example, 'liking' a facebook page or retweeting may be called 'slactivism' and not activism. We should determine A) who uses social media and B) what types of social media are most effective in creating political activism and participation.