Iran and Twitter

Like many of you out there, I have been following the events transpiring in Iran extremely closely. Yet, rather than using mainstream media sources as my primary source for news updates, I am consulting sources such as Youtube and Twitter (especially Twitter: #IranElection) much more frequently. This is because these sources provide updates quicker than the traditional sources, but also the opportunity to actively participate in the movements.

For example, when mainstream networks were still speculating whether anyone was hurt during a recent rally, Iranians had already tweeted this fact along with videos of gunmen firing into crowds and people who had been shot being rushed to hospitals. Further, Iranians had tweeted that they needed help from outsiders, to disseminate information, find proxy servers, and even donate bandwidth. And numerous people outside Iran helped out. Thus, Twitter has allowed for people outside of Iran to actively participate in the movement.

And according to Clay Shirky during a Q&A with TED, this is what makes the movement in Iran unprecedented, and to me, phenomenal. I suggest you read Clay's thoughts, as he provide more depth and clarity on the issue than I can.

Here is a little sample:

"I'm always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it seems pretty clear that ... this is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media."

(h/t: @journalistjeff @DuncanKinney)