Friday, June 19, 2009

Twitter---21st Century Carrier Pigeon


I just happened to sign up for Twitter at a history-making time. As a commentator stated, "...Twitter is much, much more than a celebrity vanity tool. The Iranian uprising has shattered that myth...In the hands of freedom-loving dissidents, the micro-blogging social network...undermines the information blockades one Tweet at a time."

Even though the press and internet was blocked in Iran, photos got out by Tweets and Facebook. I got pulled into this movement by first discovering on BoingBoing the Cyber War Guide for Iran. I was amazed that Twitter users in the US were setting up proxies for Tweets from Iran, were re-tweeting messages, etc. There is also a very human, emotional connection made. I am now following a tweeter in Iran along with over 27,000 others. His Tweets are riveting and are always made on the move; it is a life and death situation for some there. Someone in the State Department on Monday even requested that Twitter defer maintenance to keep channels open for Iran.

History is being made now and demonstrates that Twitter can be used as a powerful social network that disseminates information and hope when the larger cyber networks and press are shut down.

2 comments:

  1. Although certainly not imbued with the same gravity, tweets from the Hokule'a crew this spring affected me the same way. Something happens in your gut when you realize you're participating in their experiences.

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  2. Twitter is an amazing alert tool, too - of the people I follow, someone's always online and seeing the news, then tweeting or retweeting the latest item of interest.

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