The Revolution Will Not Be Twitterized

What do the American Revolution, the French Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement have in common? They all somehow managed to change history without Facebook and Twitter. But if you listen to our technology-obsessed media this week as post-election unrest unfolds in Iran you'd get the distinct impression that the current opposition rebellion could not exist without these social-networking sites. Even the Obama administration is fueling the hype.

Overnight we're being sold on the critical global relevance of these repositories of heretofore useless information about what the Average Joe is doing, thinking, saying, listening to, watching, reading and eating every 5 minutes. Now they'd like us to believe that Twitter and Facebook are fueling a revolution and serving as the vessel for democracy in Iran. Power to the @People.

On Wednesday, the "I don't think we should meddle" Obama administration decided to meddle and asked Twitter to delay its planned site upgrade so that service would not be interrupted, allowing Tehran's cyber-revolutionaries to continue sending messages and images to their comrades around the world. Think about that. The U.S. government giving so much significance and legitimacy to such a nascent technology, with its utterly self-consumed community, as to imply that without it, somehow the revolution could run out of steam. Talk about self-importance. Needless to say, Twitter complied. It would be nice perhaps if the Blackberry-obsessed Obama actually injected himself into the Iranian election crisis in some truly meaningful capacity. That his boldest intervention was to keep Twitter operating uninterrupted is kind of mind-numbing actually. Where is his outrage? Where is the pressure from the United States, the great democracy and most most powerful nation in the world? Why are we sitting here on the sidelines seemingly afraid to take a harsh stand against such an obvious, colossal crime against humanity?

As for Twitter and Facebook, let's keep their relevance, or lack thereof, in their proper perspective. What would we have without these two sites through which to spread information about the massive protests? We'd have cell-phone cameras, Youtube, digital cameras and email. And what would we have before that? Phones, videotapes, 35mm photographs and underground newspapers. And what would we have before that? Well, we'd have the American Revolution, the French Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement, which last time I checked, profoundly changed the course of history without the ubiquitous Twitter and Facebook.

Comments

[GEM-592]

like I said :

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/02/iran.information/index.html

[GEM-592]

See :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/26/iran-media-revolution-dissidents

The western media will twist all action perceived as being "democratic" around the world for it's own ends, and twitter is just another tool for this purpose. It means big money, and can be a very effective tool for confusing or misleading an active populace. As usual, if the real story is ever reported over here, it will take days, weeks, or longer before we learn of it - and now that MJ is gone it might be even longer yet.

[Darious]

The revolution will not be twitterized. You will not be able to flip open, type off and cop out. It will not come in 140 characters or less. You will not be able to describe it within 5 seconds before your attention span wanders off. It will not appear on Youtube, Google, or Facebook. The revolution will not be twitterized.

The revolution will be live.

(apologies to Gil Scott-Heron)

[Rooster54]

Perfectly true that those earlier movements didn't make use of Facebook and Twitter, after all, Facebook and Twitter didn't exist in those days. They surely made use of the communication technologies that existed at the time. As for Obama, he knows that the U.S. has not had a great track record when it comes to Iran's internal affairs.

[ramblingjohnny]

You post video on Youtube but you let thousands of peoples know you posted a video on Youtube via Twitters! It not just the power of YouTube or Twitter but it the whole net that is being unleashed.

TOR and other proxies to access the outside world.

Rapidshare, torrent and emails to distribute data dump.

YouTube, radio and video streaming and everything else take care of public relation!

Twitter, Facebook, SMS and god only know how many more form of social networking are being used to coordinate on the ground and to help from the outside!

Khamenei would be so lucky if it was just Twitter!

[JustifiablyParanoid]

--That his boldest intervention was to keep Twitter operating uninterrupted is kind of mind-numbing actually. Where is his outrage? Where is the pressure from the United States, the great democracy and most most powerful nation in the world? Why are we sitting here on the sidelines seemingly afraid to take a harsh stand against such an obvious, colossal crime against humanity?--

Perhaps, (and this is a BIG perhaps), Obama is aware that any statement coming from the American government at this point in time regarding "democracy" and "colassal crimes against humanity" would be hypocritcal to the point of madness.

[Andy Ostroy - Huffpost Blogger]

Jeez, the self-importance of Twitter and it's loyal Twits is astounding. Do you really think the throngs of Iranian protestors would not know where to go without directions on Twitter? You think that the incredible miles-long mass of revolutionaries got there because of Twitter? I am utterly incredulous as to the credit being taken by Twits regarding their self-proclaimed role in this opposition rebellion.
Also, it's both arrogant and preposterous to claim that without Twitter people around the world would be lost in a news vacuum, unaware of what's going on there. I watch CNN, MSNBC and read the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, HuffPo etc...both print, and online....and feel like I'm pretty darned up to speed as a result. I don't need to know what's going on every 3 minutes. Nor do I need an incessant stream of photos of protestors every three blocks . I get it. What I don't get is the claim by Twitter and its users that they somehow are partly responsible for this incredibly emotional, inspiring and historic series of events transpiring in Iran. I've been writing for months about the mind-numbing narcissism demonstrated by those who post non-stop on Twitter and Facebook. Well, their self-agrandizing role in the Iranian election upheaval is the ultimate display of this narcissim. Message to Twits: this revolution ain't about YOU!

[JerryKCDC]

I have considered Twitter and Facebook to be trivial indulgences up to now, but the usefulness is apparent now: The protesters can organize the time & place for each next rally; they can coordinate tactics, like "when the Basij militia approaches, sit down in the road!" And they can make sure the outside world is watching, which may save them from suffering a Tiananmen Square massacre. The protesters are showing the regime that they cannot fake democracy and get away with it.

Peaceful protest only works when the government has some claim to being just...in N. Korea or Burma, they would just slaughter everyone and move on. So you have to choose your battles.

[DangerousRhythm]

Reading this article and comments here, a few things come to mind and I'll probably not even cover half of it.

Some of you seem to be missing the point. One great use for Twitter is that it's helping to enable people to send along more proxy addresses so Iranians can get past their censors at all. Every one of the above mentioned services (Youtube, Facebook, SMS, Gmail, Gmail chat, Yahoo!, MSN, cell phones in general, etc.) are not all available at the same time, if at all, so they need to communicate as best they can using what they can. If that technology is Twitter, so be it. Some are able to get videos onto Youtube. Internet access is so limited and speeds are so slow that they do what they must to get their information to whoever needs it AND the raw footage out there for the world to see, so they're not quite so cut off and alone as their corrupt government wants them to be.

Of course there are other methods they are using, but if you want an audience, you go where it can be found. If you want to transmit secret information, there are ways to do that as well, whether it's been reported on or whether the general public is even aware of these methods is another matter.

I had no real, personal use for Twitter either until this happened... I could take it or leave it. Now I see its value.

[pipetoe]

Like this article.

[KathyTS]

so? The American Revolution had the latest technology of the day for spreading news: Paul Revere and a horse. Had they had Twitter, Paul might have gotten a better night's sleep.

[ram1952]

Only the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the Civil rights Movement? What about the Russian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution and the Cuban Revolution? Gee, I forgot, it was heavy texting and twittering in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nanking, Peking, Nanchow, Havana and Santiago that sparked off those revolutions that shook the world.

[Andy Ostroy - Huffpost Blogger]

A few things I wish to respond to here:

1-Yes, there are so many more revolutions than the 3 I listed. Just used those as examples. No time/room to list everything in history!
2-What is a revolution? As defined by Merriam-Webster: "c: activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation d: a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm." Anyone who says the civil rights movement was not a revolution is terribly misinformed and myopic.
3-Yes, "technology" played a role in every revolution. And that's my point. The kids in Iran, if they are to overthrow Achmedinijad it ain't gonna be because of Twitter and Facebook. What happens over there is going to take place whether or not pictures and "146-character" reports get sent around the world. The real revolutionaries, the real heroes, are the millions of young people are taking to the streets in massive protest. If we around the world never got to see ONE image, or receive ONE "Tweet"...do you think what's happening over there would be any different? Again, those who waged the American Revolution 234 years ago didn't need to trasmit photos and Tweets in order to win their independence. I'm not saying Twitter and Facebook aren't serving an important communication function. I'm simply suggesting we keep a proper perspective; that without these two sites, nothing about the Iranian protests would be different.

[derekw007]

146 characters is a novel when you're being shot at.

And to answer your question = "yes" - if the world was not able to see ONE image or receive ONE tweet of what's going on over there, what is happening would be different. In physics it's called the "observer" effect.

If you're human (and I suppose you are) I wonder if you've ever experienced the uniquely human experience of acting differently (better, braver, more restrained, whatever) when you know people are watching you. This is true for the protesters as well as the Iranian government, as I would assume that if they were certain no pictures or tweets would get out, they would be slaughtering people by the score to stop this thing....even stupid, greedy, evil people understand the power of public opinion.

The rest of your post, how our government should take a side in this, really verifies (to me) the fact you have little or no understanding of the Persian mindset toward the west - particually the United States - and the level of distrust most Iranians have against foriegn influence in their country. I suggest you read some of the writings of Professor Ahmad Ashraf before you start asking the US Government to get involved in internal Iranian politics.

[derekw007]

Mousavi asked GOOGLE today to change their LOGO green tomorrow to "give hope to Iran"..via TWITTER.

Tell me again nothing about the Iranian protests would be different.....why don't you just pull this post?

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Regular media was caught flat footed. Twitter and other social networking told the story while the teevee and online media were left behind. This sounds like envy and sour grapes.

[GEM-592]

I tend to agree. As for Iran, if a revolution does come, it won't be sponsored by twitter, and the revolutionaries will need their guns just as badly as their computers.

[Pablo Manriquez - Huffpost Blogger]

So what's your argument? X, Y, Z, occurred before Twitter. And? What are you arguing here?