Iran’s Secret Affair with Social networking, used by most as a mild distraction or a way to communicate with family and friends now is considered by some to be national threat, and dangerous to the integrity of a culture.
If you have access to any form of media outlet, be it radio, TV, or the Internet, chances are you have already heard something about the people of Iran flooding on line social networks with photos, videos, and texts on current events.
The Iranian government has a strong stance of “silence is golden,” when it comes to discussing the goings on within their own country. The results of the recent election have sparked open protest with large crowds voicing their opinion. Due to the closed door, restricted access policies on information, members of the international press have been forced to report from the outside looking in, depending on the members of the mobs to relay the message via the Internet.
With headlines like State Department to Twitter: Keep Iranian tweets coming on Cnn’s Anderson Cooper’s blog. An article on Germany’s Spiegel Online boldly proclaims “Ahmadinejad’s Fear of the Internet” and Reuters article U.S. State Department speaks to twitter over Iran clearly explaining the effect microblogging mogul twitter can have on international affairs. Iran’s Supreme Leader broke routine to attend Friday Prayers in Tehran declaring Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election a “definitive victory”. That is according the article Kahmenei: Vote protests must end featured in the front page of Al Jazeera’ English site: english.aljazeera.net/.
Many social networks other than twitter are being utilized, such as facebook.com, youtube.com, and podcasts. Since links to those sites can be fed through twitter the microblogging site has been at the forefront of the information flow on the world wide web.
So if you have ever said “I’m too old for twitter.” Or if you have ever joined the site and thought it too simple or called it dumb because you couldn’t think of a use for the site. Maybe now is the time to reconsider, take another look, sit down and figure out what is so great about tweeting. Who knows maybe you too could have a part in shaping a moment in your nations history.
To quote phrase often used by CNN, “Let the tweeting begin!”
July 31st, 2009 at 10:39 pm
That’s slightly amazing.