Social Networking: The Voice of a Revolution

There is a an old saying that says the pen is mightier than the sword, but today that can be expanded to say the internet is mightier than the gun. Social networks are becoming the voice of the unheard as strategies that were once used just for viral marketing are now being used to get the word out in a big way from nations where the government keeps tight reins on the media.

With the current unrest in Iran, websites like Twitter and YouTube are getting out the words and images of just what is happening in this nation that is being torn apart by its own unwillingness to change. As millions of people march on the streets to protest the stolen election, images that would usually be blocked by censors have found a release on the internet.

Are we on a verge of a cyber-revolution?

Iran’s Political Turmoil

On June 12, 2009, the tenth Iranian presidential election was held and Iran’s news agencies announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the election with over two-thirds of the votes while his opponent Mir-Hossein Mousavi received the rest of the votes. Many countries and citizens of Iran had doubted the legitimacy of this vote count and began to express concerns.

After the results, Mousavi issued this statement.

“I’m warning that I won’t surrender to this charade.”

He also urged his supporters to fight this decision and organized civil protests. A large group of Iranians began protesting just as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khanenei demanded that Iranian citizens unite behind Ahmadinejad because his victory was considered to have divine approval.

On June 15^th, Mousavi asked his supporters to take to the streets in support despite being warned by state officials that this action was illegal. Over two million people now march in protest despite gunfire and beatings by the police.

Iran has blocked most media from broadcasting out of their country and has tried jamming cell phones to stop word from getting out.

So where has the truth come from?

Social Networks Changing The Face of The World

When Myspace.com was invented, they had no way of knowing how far social networking would grow. The first people to use this service were friends and others who felt they had things to share. Quickly, the site grew and more people joined the craze and began blogging about all aspects of their life. Then Facebook.com came out and businesses and organizations began to realize the value of these types of sites. Now with Twitter.com, social networking is seen as a viable source of information used not only by regular people, but also by celebrities and media organizations like CNN and MSNBC.

Add in YouTube and other video-sharing sites and the internet has become a source of instant news and information available twenty-four hours a day from every corner of the earth. Most have understood the importance of these sites but their value has never been more important than now with nations like Iran and North Korea that try to hold the world at bay with their refusal to become part of the global village.

But the single voice, once a tiny whisper in the wind, can now be a global force of change. In places where protests in the streets can cause death, stating your civil liberties on the internet and showing the truth can now lead to a cyber-revolution that cannot be ignored by democratic nations.

Because of the news coming out of Iran through Twiiter, the State Department asked the website to postpone maintenance to allow information to come through from the nation in turmoil. Also, YouTube, whose policies are not to show videos that have gratuitous violence has allowed footage to be shown form Iran because they feel it has relevant social and educational value.

While nations continue to oppress humanity and try to silence the voices of the downtrodden, the very nature of the internet, a highly evolving and living electronic world with unlimited potential, can achieve something that humans have never been able to do.

Peace.

The video below contains graphic footage and should not be viewed by children. It is here to show the nature of the protests in Iran and to let the world know that Neda's death was not in vain.

Neda Agha-Soltan was driving with her music teacher on Saturday when protesters took to the streets of Tehran. There was a traffic jam, so she exited the car and was swept away with the current of anti-election protests that have rocked the Iranian capital for the last week. As she walked through the crowd, a pro-government militia opened fire from the rooftop claiming this young woman's life,

Before the world knew the identity of this woman, he death quickly became the current symbol of struggle against the hardline Iranian regime that has drove thier nation into a state of unrest that borders on revolution.

Videos of her death quickly spread across the Internet and many are considering her a martyr for the current struggle in her country. It has helped fuel the rising anger of protesters in Iran and around the world. And with each passing death, this anger shows no signs of ending even as Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued stern warnings against these demonstrations.

Neda has become an unintentional symbol of freedom and for the hope of democracy in this slowly shrinking world we live in.

Gathered from Twitter On June 24, 2009:

"I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads - blood everywhere - pepper gas like war...

ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting - from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys...

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing -... so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away"

just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animals

Ppl gathered in Baharestan but police & plain cloths don’t let the core of the rally to form.

Protesters took to the streets of Tehran, Iran again today , June 24, 2009, only to be met with a surprise attack by militia as they darted out of a mosque in Baharestan Square.

Hundreds of soldiers began to beat and shoot at the protesters and an Iranian woman told CNN that some had axes and were hacking into the people in the crowds. As of now, no images have come out of Iran and their government is using all kinds of technology to try to block their citizens from getting the truth out.

The bloodshed in Baharestan Square could end up being one of the bloodiest outrages in civil rights in modern history.