Reading the above link reminded me that I am a student of New Media. Not only that, I am a teenager of Generation Y. Which means essentially, I have been neglecting my duties as both a student of social media but also as a product of it.
The link also raised an important question of the power of social networking.
I can't deal with Twitter, it drives me nutty. While I am all about the facebook status updates (in fact, I now have facebook on my phone for JUST THAT) but the idea of having a whole entire site dedicated to updating 'what i am doing right now' just doesn't sit right with me. I guess it's because I don't have anything like protests in Iran to organise/participate in.
But as the article points out, social networking sites such as Twitter are becoming an increasingly powerful tool in politics.
'As the embattled government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to be trying to limit Internet access and communications in Iran, new kinds of social media are challenging those traditional levers of state media control and allowing Iranians to find novel ways around the restrictions.'
Supporters of the opposition Hussein Moussavi are building support on Twitter and manipulating the site effectively to build support and gain awareness throughout the world. By flooding the system with the same tag tweeters ensure the IranElection is the first thing people see when they log onto twitter.
Smart Iranians.
Just shows how all who bitch and moan (author of this blog included) about Twitter and similar social networking tools and sites are underestimating the power of these sites and not just in advertising that 'wicked cool clip of robert pattinson' but as a site of propaganda and influential material.
