Jun 17


The revolution will be tweeted

by Terry 17 June 2009


After my last post expressing my disenchantment with Twitter and Facebook, I should note the incredible use Twitter has been to Irani protestors in getting their message out.   This has been their media of last resort because the govenment has strangled available bandwidth down to 12 K to make it impossible to upload video.  Compare that against an average of 128K for DSL and the 8 megabit I get on my high-speed cable and you’ll see why sending 140 characters is preferable to trying to push anything bigger through the teeny tiny tubez.

I’m following the protest movement via Andrew Sullivan because I can’t keep up with the thousands of tweets per hour, including all the re-tweets to spread the word.  I recommend you do the same.

I must note, however that this statement he quotes gives me great concern:  “Ali Gharib makes the stellar point that what’s going on in Iran is reaffirmation of the Islamic Revolution, not a repudiation of it.”

That Islamic Revolution was not a good thing for women.  Anything that reaffirms it probably will not be, either.  Be careful what you wish for, West.

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2 Comments

2 Responses to “The revolution will be tweeted”

  1. Ahistoricality on June 17th, 2009 6:45 pm

    It really is remarkable, but there are a lot of other forms of communication still working, too: phones (including land lines!), copy machines (seriously underappreciated for their role in breaking down Soviet thought control), personal communication.

    Twitter, though, is visible to the rest of the world, and much harder to filter quickly than blogs. Still, I’m actually concerned, a bit, about this: it leaves a record, one that’s very difficult to erase, and if the regime regains control, there will be a vicious backlash against identifiable twitterers.  (Quote)

  2. Terry on June 17th, 2009 8:38 pm

    The backlash is already happening. People are disappearing – there was talk today of an entire dormitory emptied, and militia patrols abducting people. GPS embedded in cell phones, which most Twitterers are using, is endangering users by allowing them to be located. It’s going to get worse, I’m afraid.  (Quote)

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