How Twitter Democratized a Dictatorship

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Rebecca Freitag

Iranian protests aren't just taking place in the streets, they're taking place in the Twittersphere, making Twitter one of the most modern news sources in the world.

Anyone who still doubts the power of social networking should take a look at what has happened on Twitter in the past year. The astronauts use it in space, celebrities use it, roommates use it, BuzzFlash uses it, even the President uses it. The news of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River broke on Twitter, and so did the news of a Mumbai hotel terrorist attack last November.

The notoriety of Twitter as a news source has been a hot topic lately, and the traditional distribution of news is changing because of it. There are so many different points of access to it, and Twitter can break stories where the mainstream media can't always access.

Since the announcement of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial landslide victory, there has been widespread violence all over the country, and a crackdown on almost all forms of communication. Twitter has become a tremendously vital stage and loudspeaker for the international conversation between Iranians and their supporters because of its one-of-a-kind level of availability to the public.

These Twitter posts, up to 140 characters mostly posted from a cell phone or the Internet, can paint a vivid picture of the day's events in Iran. People are running through the streets, the Baseej militia are using tear gas and guns, students are being shot, thousands of people are shouting "death to dictator" from their rooftops and balconies.  People are gathering in Tajreesh Square, and the authorities are oppressing the media.

This is an historical turning point in journalism. Hundreds of users Twitter on this subject every minute and release news of deaths, rallies, protests, and everything in between. A simple search of #iranelection on Twitter will provide each post with that tag, where most, if not all, the breaking news is occurring and Iranians are communicating.

Where the mainstream media is failing to do their job, the people of Iran have taken to their Twitter accounts and showed the world an inside look no one else can provide. It's a point of view given by the Iranian people, not a news network, or a reporter who used a translator.

Although there is no guarantee these tweets are accurate, it's a chilling and valuable insight to the events in Iran that have been taking place in the past few days that is unavailable anywhere else.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS