Twitter:Iranian Revolt::CNN:Gulf War?
June 15th, 2009 |
[An uncredited photo from the Iranian government's assault on Tehran University.]
I’ve been riveted to the ongoing revolt in Iran. While many mainstream media outlets dropped the ball initially, even those few with brave reporters on the ground have been hampered by a foreign media crackdown. Much of the news is coming from elsewhere.
The Iranian government quickly clamped down on Internet and cell phone use, but intrepid participants have found workarounds. Messages, photos, and videos have been posted on Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube, and all have been instrumental in spreading the extent of the violence and conveying crucial information.
A group of bloggers, most notably Nico Pitney at the Huffington Post, Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic Monthly, and the NIAC’s blog, have been live-blogging since Saturday morning. They are soliciting e-mails from readers with contacts in Iran and publishing these eyewitness reports. They’re also posting links to Farsi-language material, soliciting readers who speak Farsi to translate, and posting the translated texts.
But the most important source of information has been Twitter. Lists of Iranian Twitter users have been compiled and published on the above blogs, and sources on the ground are relying heavily upon Twitter to broadcast their messages. The obvious pun that “the revolution will be twittered” has been mentioned dozens of times, but it is undoubtedly accurate.
Until now, Twitter has been known more for its relentless hype, its appeal to shallow trend-seekers looking for the Next Big Thing, its appeal to narcissists who want to broadcast what they bought at the grocery store, and its appeal to self-absorbed reporters looking to scoop one another, self-absorbed politicians trolling for votes, and self-absorbed celebrities broadcasting the minutiae of their lives to fawning fans.
It’s indisputable, though, that this weekend has been Twitter’s finest hour. It’s no longer possible to conclude that Twitter is exclusively a domain for the narcissist or the status-seeker looking to connect with followers. Without Twitter, the extensive reporting that exists on the above blogs could not have happened. While CNN slept, Twitter thrived. Twitter has staked out a place in the geopolitical order, and while the outcome of the Iranian revolt is still in doubt, Twitter has established a usefulness far exceeding the expectations of its many detractors.
The paradox of the social network site is that the initial framework is provided by the organization, but its actual substantive use is determined by the users. Narcissistic users make a narcisstic site, and substantive use makes a substantive site. Twitter has taken a step toward substantive use, and with the continuing turmoil that exists in Iran, a significant re-definition of Twitter may well follow.
[Edit: Twitter plans to go offline for 90 minutes' maintenance tonight at 9:45 PDT. Please protest if you are on Twitter. #twitterfail]
[Edit 2: Maintenance has been postponed to a more conducive time for Iran. #twitterwin]
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2 Responses to “Twitter:Iranian Revolt::CNN:Gulf War?”
By Banzai on Jun 15, 2009 | Reply
Like many Americans I had no idea that the youth of Iran was as fed up with their government as we were with ours when we kicked out the Republicans. All the Republicans wanted to do was demonize Iran and start a stupid conflict. Now maybe the present government of Iran will have to talk to the Western World so we can begin to have normal relationships again with Iran. These people in both countries who thrive on conflict lose to these brave Iranian people who say no to the old stodgy ones.