What I'm Learning from Iran

The Iranian election and the subsequent civil action has shown us a picture of the future of civil unrest.  We have seen digital tools being embraced to organize, generate support and to bypass restrictions on state controlled communications.  It has been nothing short of amazing.  And unlike Obama, the financial resources of the Iranian people were close to nil (by comparison).

So what has changed?

• There have been some pretty amazing stats.
• The state department contacted Twitter to request they delay a maintenance outage because of the potential impact on Iranians to self organize.
• YouTube waiving their policies regarding violent and disturbing images to allow Iranians to share what was happening with the rest of the world.
• And the NY Time has written a great article on what we've learned about social media tools from this experience.
• http://iran.twazzup.com/

But none of these are what has changed. 

I am what has changed.  I now follow (via twitter and facebook) a variety of Iranians who are fighting for what they believe in.  I am awakened in the night by the buzz of eerily terse messages about announcements, violence or calls for assistance.

It took a while for it to sink in that I am not connected to a wire service or news bureau.  Rather, there is a single individual out there typing into the digital darkness hoping that his voice will be heard and make a difference. I lie awake waiting for more tweets to come, not knowing for how long each individual will be able to stay online.

There are problems.  It's impossible to tell truth from here-say or outright disinformation.  But this experience I speak of isn't about source validation or credibility.  This is about being connected to someone I don't know, thousands of miles away who is fighting for something I believe in.

I can no longer shake Iran from of my mind.  I find myself researching the history of the region.  I click on links Moussavi is sending out to the world and I am trapped by the flood of photos and videos.  And I'm not alone.

My twitter stream is exploding with retweets from a growing list of sources.  There are disturbing facts, links, calls for assistance and even strange campaigns to show our support.

I am a social being and I am compelled to think of myself as a good person.  And now that I am connected to these people, I lay awake praying for their safety and that one day I will meet one of them or even know their true names. All of which makes me wonder just how powerful that simple choice to follow someone via twitter may be.

I am not a digital utopian who believes the Net will remove all fighting and all wars. But I am a believer in the power of these tools to change how we see the world.  And I'm given hope by what a few have been able to achieve against increasing odds by leveraging these tools.

Now back to my day job - selling products to westerners.

Comments

[Leigh]

Nice post Sean. In the brilliant words of Gil Scott Heron,

The revolution will not be televised, the revolution, will be live.

:)

[paulmcenany]

Nice post, man. Good to hear you back.

And I'm right there with you. Just makes everything else seem a little more trivial. I had always heard that the Iranian people were much more secular, much more open-minded than their government. But it's certainly difficult to call Iran a part of the "axis of evil" when the images make them look more like the axis of my local starbucks.

Whatever happens, sure seems as though something is stirring....

[Charles]

Great post Sean.

[Gavin Heaton]

Excellent post, Sean.

"It took a while for it to sink in that I am not connected to a wire service or news bureau. Rather, there is a single individual out there typing into the digital darkness hoping that his voice will be heard and make a difference."

I often read (and sometimes write) about making a "difference". But what does this mean in the face of changing real world circumstances ... such as we see in Iran.

Perhaps it is BECAUSE of the way in which we participate that we are creating ready-made (and active/activist) audiences which can follow through on the actions that are started by a tweet, a message or a plea on the other side of the world.

[Todd]

Two problems with this post:

1. Who is to say that half the people you are following are even real people - and not a 30 year old jackass getting kicks out of how many people are following him?

2. Although I am unaware of the different languages available on twitter, why is everything in english? With the arabic type in your post image, it would seem more reasonable for these revolutionists to communicate in their own language.

Whatever the answer, my point is this - The arabic world thrives on PR. They hold rallies as long as cameras are on and their signs are designed for our eyes. Although with all the coverage they are getting we seem to keep falling for it.

Now all we have to do is figure out how all this exfoliating conversation taking place at the latest art gallery openings this side of the Suez can help Iranians realize they live in a shitty country.

[Sean Howard]

Hi Paul,

I agree. It's certainly opened my eyes quite a bit to their way of seeing the world. Though there is a risk that we over-empathize and assume they see the world exactly as we do.

It's driving me nuts... I haven't heard from some of the people I'm following and it's actually worrying. Wow. A smaller world indeed.

[Sean Howard]

Thanks Charles! I totally thought of you when I was writing it. I don't think I was able to achieve the level of passion I hoped or felt you would grant to the subject but I was determined to write it and get it up.

[Sean Howard]

Thanks Gavin,

It would be awesome to see the results of actions taken by people as a result of a simple twitter follow.

I know there were a bunch of requests by Moussavi for things like translation assistance through to project management. I'm unaware if anyone came to his aid...

[Sean Howard]

Hi Todd,

It's good to know there are only two. ;)

I agree 100% on authenticity and authority between completely different things. And there is no way for me to know what is real in the world. That said, we have developed skill, faulty or otherwise, for determining who to trust and believe. And I think that those of us online are learning how to develop new tools.

But again, I wasn't arguing that it was all true. I was attempting to portray that MY world had changed. I suddenly felt connected to someone on the other side of the world in a place that had always been foreign or a member of the "axis of evil" (oy).

To your point about PR. Well. They certainly have done an amazing job at using the web to generate PR interest, reach new people and tell their story. In fact, we could learn a lot by looking at just how well they used each tool.

Sean

[Charles]

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Iran has had such a shit ride from the US press because they've got this nutter at the helm in the shape of Ahmedinejad that it's easy to overlook the evidence which is that DESPITE the CIA doing regime change in 1954 (I think) and once again playing proxy Emperor, the Iranian people are by and large one of the most pro Western (and U.S. supporting middle East countries).It's also easy to overlook that Israel is fully nuked up via the United States (with a Caveat deal that Saudi Arabia - home of Al Quaida, is never struck) and that although this doesn't mean Iran should be nuked up (God help us). Until there is transparency and openness about the topic there will always be suspicion and mistrust. No doubt I'll be called anti semitic for even saying that, but I admire Jews (creatively some of the most fertile minds on the Earth) and as a friend someone has to say it like it is. What's the point of social media otherwise?Anyway nice straightforward post about how little bits are changing the world step by step.

[Sean Howard]

I've spent a few hours trying to decipher the embed code at the top of your reply but in the end I've decided this was inserted by 'the asian man' watching your every move online. ;)

wow...

Saudi Arabia connected to Isreal to Iran to the US.

Brilliant and provocative as always dude.

[Chris]

Re: "Who is to say that half the people...are even real people."

True--you can't be sure that any individual tweet is authentic. And we should be skeptical; we should always exercise media literacy, whether we're reading tweets, the Huffington Post, a hardcopy of the New York Times, or listening to CBC radio. It is entirely reasonable to believe that some % of tweets are fake.

But, if the conjecture is that a significant number are fake and that they are painting a misleading picture, then at a certain point, the skepticism must also shift to explain who all the fake tweets are coming from, how it's being done, etc. Now, before anyone replies to tell me that it would be easy to fake large numbers of tweets--hang on one more second! I know it would be. :-) But, there's something else to consider.

If our knowledge of what's going on in Iran were limited to Twitter alone, we would be right in being skeptical of all tweets and the overall picture they are painting. But we're not. There are reports (albeit restricted) coming to us from other sources, such as traditional news agencies. There is also our general knowledge of the situation in Iran. And the consistency between this knowledge, and these reports and tweets--and the internal consistency of each--is what is referred to in science as a "convergence of evidence". (For e.g. we know Darwin was right because of the overwhelming convergence and consistency of pieces of evidence from many different sources: geology, paleontology, genetics, etc.)

So, while we may not be able to say that any single tweet is authentic, the overall convergence and consistency gives us a good idea of what is going on--and it is a compelling, disturbing image that we should all be paying attention to.

[Charles]

Oh shit. Sorry about that. I was messing around with an embed on my last post that only appeared when I posted. Sorry about those couple of hours ;)

You know I love America right? That's why I criticize them so much. It's time for the US to be a grandee but I think the time of being the financial, military, scientific number 1 is drawing to the end. I think if they play it right they can always own innovation. People will gasp when they look back a hundred and fifty years from now. If we're still around!

[Liz]

In actual fact, only 2.5% of Iranians are Arabic. The most commonly spoken language in Iran is Farsi. This is an important distinction. Not only that, but the cultural composition and relationships within Iran are more complex than most people are aware. They would not appreciate being ignorantly grouped as "Arabic".

As for why they are using English, I think there's a lot of interesting speculation on that, but these are two likely explanations I've found so far:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1905125,00.html

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/06/iran-before-you-have-that-twitter-gasm/