Blog #3 - Iran Elections and Social Media

For some time now, the world of social media has been thought of as mainly entertainment with a use for communicating with friends instantly. However, as displayed by the protests in Iran due to disputed election results, we can see that social media itself may be evolving into something even more. Iran held elections on June 12 with a turnout of over 46 million voters. The two heavy candidates, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (current president) and Mir Hossein Moussavi, had strong followings. A close race was expected. As the vote counting went under way, Moussavi claimed there were violations. The results came back claiming Ahmadinejad the winner with 63% of the vote. Protests began immediately. Iran banned all foreign media from covering the protests in a hope that it would blow over. This is where social media comes into play. The new popular site, Twitter, allowed for help in keeping the protests alive. Iranians have utilized the service to band together quickly and easily in an effort to keep up the protests and keep the world watching. Video services such as YouTube and picture websites like Flickr have also visually displayed the violence that has ensued. These events and their following on the web may be a catalyst for a new breed of news coverage and usage of the social media craze.
Twitter at first look seems like a way to simply post a comment (in 140 characters or less) so that anyone can see. With the use of link posting, trending topics and the hashtag and keyword feature, one can start to see the power of the service. This is clearly displayed with the case of the Iranian election. Iranian citizens have been accessing the website from right in the middle of the action to give live updates, comments and stories via a “tweet”. Adding a hashtag to the tweet allows people to more easily search for tweets on specific topics. The most popular tags and keywords have been #iranelection, Ahmadinejad, Moussavi and Tehran. The topic has been on the trending topics since the elections. The trending topics are listed right on the home page of Twitter to allow easy access to the most popular subjects being tweeted about. People have also been posting links (using tinyurl, etc.) to stories and other web sites that allow pictures and video to be displayed.
The tweeting is not the extent of the new-age coverage of the election fallout. Iranians have been taking pictures and video of the tragic violence taking place in areas of protest. The Iranian government had attempted to keep this quiet by banning foreign media but the internet is left open. Online video services such as YouTube have allowed people to upload videos of the protests which are easily accessible and have also been used by American news networks such as CNN in order to spread the word. These videos show riot police beating people and even shooting them in certain cases. A woman named Neda, who was tragically shot to death amidst a rally, has become one of the faces of the protests. Video of her have been shot surfaced and were shown on television in the U.S. and elsewhere. She has become a hero and inspiration for the rallies taking place. Photo-sharing website, Flickr, has also been a key factor in showing the events as they unfold. Many tweets contain links to photos from Flickr which show graphic but astounding snapshots. These pictures and videos have been posted faster than anyone could have imagined in the past and it may be leading to a new wave of media.
The internet has been slowly but surely taking over the news and entertainment markets. Newspapers are going out of business and more people have been turning to news sites and blogs for information on the state of current affairs. In Ben Parr’s blog post on the Iran elections and social media, he claims that blog’s have been updating and covering the events faster than major media. He says the use of Google Blog Search can help sift through the blogs to find the info you are seeking. Blogs can be written or started by anyone and updated at any time. People from all over can post stories and news about their thoughts and opinions on anything. This has been used well in the recent Iran fiasco. One can start to see how media and news is changing into a faster environment with an abundance of information and opinions.
The explosion of the internet has connected computers all across the world and allowed people to interact instantaneously. With the introduction of sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr, information is becoming more and more available and clear. The Iranian elections have displayed this well and the brave people of Iran have utilized the services amazingly. The American government even told Twitter to keep their service up during scheduled downtime so that protesters could keep tweeting news. The world of social media seems to be morphing into a tool which can be used for inspiring masses and bringing people together for a common cause. The free reign of opinions is inspiring people to be more informed and start a revolution of information and news.