Toe Jam Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1905125,00.html The U.S. State Department doesn't usually take an interest in the maintenance schedules of dotcom start-ups. But over the weekend, officials there reached out to Twitter and asked them to delay a network upgrade that was scheduled for Monday night. The reason? To protect the interests of Iranians using the service to protest the presidential election that took place on June 12. Twitter moved the upgrade to 2 p.m. P.T. Tuesday afternoon — or 1:30 a.m. Tehran time. When Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone founded Twitter in 2006, they were probably worried about things like making money and protecting people's privacy and drunk college kids breaking up with one another in 140 characters or less. What they weren't worried about was being suppressed by the Iranian government. But in the networked, surreally flattened world of social media, those things aren't as far apart as they used to be — and what began as a toy for online flirtation is suddenly being put to much more serious uses. After the election in Iran, cries of protest from supporters of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi arose in all possible media, but the loudest cries were heard in a medium that didn't even exist the last time Iran had an election. So what exactly makes Twitter the medium of the moment? It's free, highly mobile, very personal and very quick. It's also built to spread, and fast. Twitterers like to append notes called hashtags — #theylooklikethis — to their tweets, so that they can be grouped and searched for by topic; especially interesting or urgent tweets tend to get picked up and retransmitted by other Twitterers, a practice known as retweeting, or just RT. And Twitter is promiscuous by nature: tweets go out over two networks, the Internet and SMS, the network that cell phones use for text messages, and they can be received and read on practically anything with a screen and a network connection. This makes Twitter practically ideal for a mass protest movement, both very easy for the average citizen to use and very hard for any central authority to control. The same might be true of e-mail and Facebook, but those media aren't public. They don't broadcast, as Twitter does. On June 13, when protests started to escalate, and the Iranian government moved to suppress dissent both on- and off-line, the Twitterverse exploded with tweets from people who weren't having it, both in English and in Farsi. While the front pages of Iranian newspapers were full of blank space where censors had whited-out news stories, Twitter was delivering information from street level, in real time click link for more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boofMcboof Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 The cyberwar over there is just crazy. The amount of internet driven communication, DDOS attacks, and hacking on both sides might be unprecedented on such a grass roots level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10fttall Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Another example of the media's inexplicable masterbatory joy over Twitter, when blogs, messageboards, and other networked social sites enable EXACTLY the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buenosdiaz Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 lol the Times had this article to die twitter die seriously? lol i'm glad the state department is doing their analysis on the political atmosphere of the region by noting that come college kids in iran are "taking to the streets" or whatever they are tweeting... god i hate twitter oh yeah follow me on twitter...im taking about how i hate twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Its been quite interesting to see the "cyberwar" taking place in Iran right now Just signed up for Twitter today because of this. Location: Tehran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegionOfDoom Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Ohhh I got the TweetDeck....pretty damn cool!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Its been quite interesting to see the "cyberwar" taking place in Iran right nowJust signed up for Twitter today because of this. Location: Tehran I changed my location to Tehran and I got seven tweets asking me when did I move... :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boofMcboof Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Its been quite interesting to see the "cyberwar" taking place in Iran right nowJust signed up for Twitter today because of this. Location: Tehran I just followed suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buenosdiaz Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 you guys wont start a rebellion with the help of google maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Twitter is the ****. Much more fun when you have a cell phone, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Another example of the media's inexplicable masterbatory joy over Twitter, when blogs, messageboards, and other networked social sites enable EXACTLY the same thing. Media hate-fetish? The "media's" joy (and watch your descriptors as gratuitous vulgarity can be a problem--see sticky thread at top of page ) seems like an off-target place to focus here. It's the decidedly widespread loving embrace (arguably curious I guess) of all the "civilians" that are making twitland another "interweb community phenom." The vast numbers of people who like being twits and living on FaceSpace or MyBook do so independent of any "media" stamp of approval. What I do see worth a comment re: media personalities & twitter is they're showing unusually good amrketing savvy in catching the wildfire popularity of this newer venue and riding it hard via joining and participating for the invaluable and substantial free exposure so beneficial to all popular-media-supported individuals, or the organizations employing them. Which makes it all more the opposite of "inexplicable." But, admittedly, I don't do any of those twitty things, and I may be missing the Magic. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Its been quite interesting to see the "cyberwar" taking place in Iran right nowJust signed up for Twitter today because of this. Location: Tehran For me, this is far and away the only interesting aspect of twitter. As always, keep us posted amigo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 For me, this is far and away the only interesting aspect of twitter. As always, keep us posted amigo. same here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Another example of the media's inexplicable masterbatory joy over Twitter, when blogs, messageboards, and other networked social sites enable EXACTLY the same thing. From the article: This makes Twitter practically ideal for a mass protest movement, both very easy for the average citizen to use and very hard for any central authority to control. The same might be true of e-mail and Facebook, but those media aren't public. They don't broadcast, as Twitter does. I'm not a member of Twitter so can someone explain what they mean when they say that Twitter broadcasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buenosdiaz Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 From the article:I'm not a member of Twitter so can someone explain what they mean when they say that Twitter broadcasts? dont have twitter but like you dont need to be a friend of anybody to know what theyre doing on twitter...you are literally broadcasting your updates to the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 dont have twitterbut like you dont need to be a friend of anybody to know what theyre doing on twitter...you are literally broadcasting your updates to the world Gotcha. Do you even need to be a member of Twitter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Media hate-fetish? The "media's" joy (and watch your descriptors as gratuitous vulgarity can be a problem--see sticky thread at top of page ) seems like an off-target place to focus here. It's the decidedly widespread loving embrace (arguably curious I guess) of all the "civilians" that are making twitland another "interweb community phenom." The vast numbers of people who like being twits and living on FaceSpace or MyBook do so independent of any "media" stamp of approval. What I do see worth a comment re: media personalities & twitter is they're showing unusually good amrketing savvy in catching the wildfire popularity of this newer venue and riding it hard via joining and participating for the invaluable and substantial free exposure so beneficial to all popular-media-supported individuals, or the organizations employing them. Which makes it all more the opposite of "inexplicable." I don't mean to sound like an old grumpy pants (okay maybe I do)- but I think so much of the phenomenon is because of the "I'm so special" mentality that permeates Gen X, Y, & Z. I mean, try as I might, I just don't see my dad updating his facebook status. Nor anyone he associates with. They're just not that into themselves. I guess the same could be said for a MB, though the anonymous thing kind of nips that in the bud. BTW... "facespace"... :hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 facespace...thats the name of my new band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 I'm waiting on Westy to show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I'm waiting on Westy to show up. He's busy Tweeting about the Iranian elections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I'm waiting on Westy to show up. arent you the watered down version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 From the article:I'm not a member of Twitter so can someone explain what they mean when they say that Twitter broadcasts? people can subscribe to you and twitter will send updates about what you are doing directly to them. I believe you can set it up so you get a text on your phone every time someone you've subscribed to updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 people can subscribe to you and twitter will send updates about what you are doing directly to them. I believe you can set it up so you get a text on your phone every time someone you've subscribed to updates. Correct. Each person has the option of turning on SMS updates for any specific person they are "following". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 For me, this is far and away the only interesting aspect of twitter. As always, keep us posted amigo. I know back in the early spring in Pakistan, during the "long march" (when Nawaz Sharif and his minions were threatening to take down the gov't) they were "tweeting" everything Here, a revolution (although unlikely) could occur and be communicated via twitter Imagine what Kermit Roosevelt would have done if he had this. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boofMcboof Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 If you would like to help the Iranian protesters, signing up or changing your twitter location to Tehran helps the guys over there out. FYI: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/06/web-attacks-expand-in-irans-cyber-battle/ help cover the bloggers: Change your twitter settings so that your location is tehran and your time zone is gmt +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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