The Modern Gadfly

The modern gadfly would have to disguise his own agenda of addressing wrongs by asking questions or coming  off as being irritant in our modern age. Socrates did this by  questioning civilians around him but the range of his agenda was very limited. With the use of technology of our time, the gadfly can work on his agenda on a much larger scale. The gadfly can question, inform, or irritate hundreds of people now with the internet,  television, etc. but who in this modern age has the same goals of Socrates? Asking the hard questions, providing radical and different opinion, and  questioning the "truth"?
Thanks to the civil liberties in our country, anyone can be a modern gadfly. Bloggers and political pretend to be ignorant, find ignorance in the government, and question the "truths" our government or otherwise has told us but really anyone can do it. Many people in Socrates's  era feared the government and freedom of speech was not a liberty for all and this explains why so few questioned their surroundings but we are not executed for freedom of speech. Most internet tools like message boards, social sites, and blogs are used by gadflys to spread their wisdom and inform the people.
I may not be able to think of a real person who questions the government like Socrates did, but the idea of a modern gadfly reminds me of the fictional character Andrew Ryan. Ryan rejected the idea's of the well established forms of government and order (the american government, communism, and christianity) He   wondered  if you worked for something, then why can't you and you alone  enjoy the fruits of your labor? The fruits of your labor shouldn't help the government or the poor(the american government) shared by the people(communism) or they belong to God( Christianity), he believed. He and Socrates were similar in the fact that they questioned the the lives given before them and considered them not worthy of living. (Socrates going as far to choosing to be executed instead of accepting a lower sentence and Ryan going as far as building his own city based on his ideals)