But working against that is another global trend apparent here: the contradictory effects of social networks on political movements. Facebook and Twitter make it much easier to get lots of people into the streets fast. But when everyone has a digital megaphone, it is much harder for any leader to aggregate enough authority not just to build a coherent set of demands but, more important, to make compromises on them, at the right time, to transform street energy into new laws.

So, the Hong Kong protesters proudly proclaim they have “no leader” and insist on their five crowdsourced demands — and “not one less.” Those demands include universal suffrage to elect the city’s administrators, an investigation of police brutality and amnesty for arrested protesters.

But no movement will get 100 percent of what it wants, especially in Hong Kong, which is actually one country, three systems. There’s Beijing, the sovereign power. There’s the conservative pro-Beijing Hong Kongers, who dominate the local administration and accept the limited democracy rules inherited from Britain. And there’s the more urbanized, full-democracy-aspiring, internet-savvy youth in the streets.

The only possible outcome is a compromise. But as the South China Morning Post columnist Alex Lo argued in a Sept. 11 article, Hong Kong protesters are being hobbled by the same social networks that got them their large crowds: Because there is no leadership, there is no ability to cut a deal, and anyone who tries to compromise will get torched online. These modern movements are crowdsourced but also crowd-enforced, and that’s intimidating for anyone who wants to make a deal.

“Worldwide trends usually take a few years to reach Hong Kong,” wrote Lo, and “our social media-driven revolution that has fueled the current unrest is no exception. … But from Gezi Park in Istanbul to Tahrir Square in Cairo, revolutions and rebellions driven by social media have all ended in failure.”

Because Hong Kong’s protests “encompass and amplify practically every major grievance people have about their government, society and China,” Lo added, “it’s impossible to bridge disagreements and present a viable political program. The only common denominator, the lowest, is that everyone hates China.”

My view: Social networks and cybertools are making inefficient authoritarian regimes more frail, because the people now have more tools to communicate and take on the state. See: Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Russia. But they’re making efficient authoritarians even more efficient. See: China. And they are making democracies ungovernable, because they not only facilitate the “end of truth” but also “the end of compromise.” See: America, Brexit and Hong Kong.