Guerilla.
I like the gossip metaphor. And I do think social media does have some similiar traits that “gossip” has. It can spread lightening fast, get muddied by telephone game/poor translation, and cause upheaval. At the same time, on a more positive front it can create a collective movements.. foster sharing and spread of constructive messages, advice and information.
Also, I wouldn’t take your traditional media as being reporting vs social media being hearsay thoughts to far to the extreme. Social media reporting takes a wary eye to determine if it’s accurate, but citizen journalism can be powerful. Many already use blogs, twitter feeds and social commentary as more immediate, trusted news etc than so called “unbiased” journalism.