News - On Monday of this week, there was a flurry of cyber fury when news broke that Tim Hortons (a coffee shop megacorp) would be sponsoring a NOM event (National Organization for Marriage).

Coffee-loving queers across Canada and the USA immediately took to their keyboards, sharing links and tweets that expressed anger against the homo-hatin' actions of the coffee franchise.

Here's a basic timeline of the events around the NOM/TIM scandal on Monday, August 10, 2009:

9h00 - Gay blogs, Twitterfeeds and Facebook pages begin spreading the word of the Tim Hortons sponsorship

10h00 - Petition begins to urge Tim Hortons to stop supporting the anti-LGBT group

13h30 - Tim Hortons responds with a tepid, but assuaging statement, confirming that they would NOT sponsor "religious groups, political affiliates or lobby groups"

Militant queers were ready for a battle, but before they could assemble their anti-NOM posters, Tim Hortons had managed to decaffeinate the situation. As an older lesbian friend put it, "I didn't even get time to be offended!"

Is social media the new form of activism? Are the days of street marches over?

What do you think?

Leave a comment.

For more by Daniel Baylis, check out his Gay Travel Blog.