The Revolution Will Be Tweeted: Activism in the Age of User Generated Content

The images coming out of the aftermath of the stolen election in Iran
have ranged from inspiring to horrifying. Photos and videos depict
streets flooded with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. There
also are the visual results of such bold acts--those beaten and
bloodied being tended to by their compatriots. With professional
journalists sidelined by Iranian officials, much of this media is
being produced by amateur journalists and distributed via the
internet.

The images coming out of the aftermath of the stolen election in Iran
have ranged from inspiring to horrifying. Photos and videos depict
streets flooded with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. There
also are the visual results of such bold acts--those beaten and
bloodied being tended to by their compatriots. With professional
journalists sidelined by Iranian officials, much of this media is
being produced by amateur journalists and distributed via the
internet. Despite the extraordinary measures taken by the Iranian
government to restrict information flow, grassroots communications
continue. Cell phone service is cut, the movement of international
journalists is restricted, and internet sites are blocked. Yet the
pictures, videos and blog reports keep coming. Each a testament to
the power of mixing human will with advanced technology.

Iranian oppositionists have been able to do this through a variety of
innovative tactics. One is the use of internet proxies. These
proxies allow internet users in Iran to connect to friendly computers
through out the world in order to post information to the web. In
addition, the social networking site, Twitter, has also proven
extraordinarily valuable. Twitter allows users to post mini-blogs of
up to 140 characters, called "Tweets." Updates about demonstrations,
news from the streets and links to photos and videos have all tweeted
their way past government censors. Twitter is, unlike say Facebook,
decentralized. Each individual Twitter site is connected to a network
of other sites. Users can post without ever going to a central
Twitter home page.

Ok, so why hasn't the Iranian government just turned off the internet
completely? The answer was provided on a recent edition of All Things
Considered--since there is such a high level of internet use by all
sectors of Iranian society, turning it off would bring everything to a
standstill. A kind of digital general strike. This is the social
power that opposition organizers are leveraging. The actions of the
censors are just minor roadblocks. In the end, Ahmadinejad needs the
internet as much as the protesters do.

The street protests in Iran are not the first international events to
use the internet to globalize struggles. Youtube video releases
introduced the world to the recent G20 demonstrations in London and
the anarchist-led uprisings in Greece. Viewers could watch the
dignified speech of Tony Benn in Trafalgar Square or the successful
anarchist arson of the main Christmas tree in Athens. Internet
resources have become fundamental not only to the new globalized
economy, but also to social protest.

Cyber-protest had a powerful beginning. In 1999, WTO protestors in
Seattle used the internet to release updates and to project on the
ground actions to the world. Strategically placed video cameras
brought internet viewers into the streets of Seattle to witness
running battles between police and demonstrators. A network of
de-centralized alternative media sources developed out of this event,
including the Indymedia network. These networks, designed
specifically for the purposes of publishing user generated content,
are meant to circumvent mainstream media sources. They have become a
main source for communication amongst activists. Today, mainstream
developers such as You Tube, Facebook and Twitter have adapted many of
these innovations and are presenting corporate-owned user-directed
mass alternatives.

There may, however, be a downside to all this information sharing.
This came to head during the recent student takeovers in New York
City, of The New School and New York University. Internet organizing
certainly played a useful role in the moments leading to the
occupation and the organization of solidarity demonstrations during
the events. However, live streams from inside both occupations
revealed internal debates and the unpreparedness of some of the
occupiers. In one instance, a New School occupier, returning to his
dorms for a shower, used You Tube to share a summary of the occupiers'
debates about defending themselves against the police. Foes in the
administration and the New York Police Department were one click away
from this information. A communications strategy for activists that
carefully considers the potential audiences of their electronic media
is clearly needed. Not all exposure is necessarily desired.

In the end, there is still no substitute for good old face-to-face
organizing. Yet, it is comforting to know that when the time comes to
organize, a world of sympathizers is just an upload away. So,
readers might take some time out to send a tweet out to a
pro-democracy demonstrator in Iran or even upload a video of your
latest protest. The world awaits you.

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