29 June, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The crazy regime in Iran may frown upon Western pop culture, but they must really love Michael Jackson right now.  Thanks to him, the coverage of the protests and rigged election has cooled considerably.  But hey, this is the Twitter generation – our attention spans are short.

I haven’t written anything about the situation in Iran because it’s far too complex for me and I think most Westerners to comprehend.  I think the protestors are incredibly brave and I hope they are successful, though Mousavi isn’t a nice guy and I really doubt he’s going to usher in a golden age of democracy in Iran. One thing I’m sick of hearing about is Twitter and the so-called “Twitter revolution.”  I’m not on Twitter, but I was reading some of the tweets on the Iran election.  I was pretty surprised at some of the misinformation I saw – for example, one person exclaimed that Steve Jobs was dead.  Not true, of course, and I’m not sure what this has to do with Iran anyway.

Double X has some interesting posts about Twitter, attempting to put it into context despite all the hype:  “According to the social media analytics company Sysomos, there were 19,235 Twitter users in Iran on Sunday; this in a country of 70 million. Some 93 percent of those accounts were in Tehran. Presumably those users are young, wealthy, and worldly.”  The author concludes that “reading the world off Twitter is like peeking into a Connecticut prep school and claiming to have seen America.”

The post goes on to quote a Harvard internet expert who says that Twitter is helping people around the world feel a sense of solidarity and involvement with the protestors that they otherwise wouldn’t have.  In response to this, the author writes, “But what if that sense of solidarity is built on an incomplete view of the country and a simplistic take on its political economy? And isn’t there something childlike…about seeking ‘a sense of involvement’ instead of acknowledging that there are limits to what outsiders can accomplish?”

I also think the video of the death of the woman called Neda that is posted all over the internet is troubling. I’m not exactly sure what widespread dissemination of this gruesome video achieves.  As many have already written online, it’s like a snuff film starring an attractive young woman.  I won’t watch it, but I was sickened by the photos I’ve seen.  My first thought is that it’s a horrible invasion of this woman’s privacy and personal dignity. Also, I can’t help but think that a video like this of an American or European would not be so widely distributed. I don’t think the video of Daniel Pearl being beheaded was posted on YouTube and linked to by every major news organization.  Why isn’t Neda afforded the same dignity in death?  I guess it’s easier to dehumanize a “foreign” person, as opposed to one of “us.”

Long-time readers may remember that I was in favor of the videos and photos of Dua Khalil Aswad’s murder being posted online, but I feel that situation was different.  Most Westerners (including me) would not have believed that in this day and age, women and girls are still stoned to death by mobs of men.  It put the international spotlight on honor killings and stonings, a subject that is covered up and not discussed openly, which means scores of women die.  The situation in Iran is far different from this. The video isn’t exposing something that’s hidden – it’s just ghoulish.  We already know the Iranian regime is bad news.  The video adds nothing constructive to the conversation.

I think my points about Neda tie back into my points about Twitter and new media in general.  The internet, Twitter, Facebook, etc., are valuable and amazing tools, but they should be used carefully.  It’s troubling that the Western media has relied on unsubstianted Twitter reports in their news coverage of Iran to such a degree.  Likewise, it’s troubling that a young Iranian woman died with a camera phone shoved in her face and then her death was beamed around the world and picked up by the media and even mentioned by Obama – all, it seems, with very little thought or reflection on whether this is responsible or necessary or good.

1. Comments RSS

1. Iran, Twitter, Neda « Michael Jackson Is Dead : StarLogz.com Says:

   June 29th, 2009 at 1:32 am

   [...] : Iran, Twitter, Neda [...]

2. Lucette Says:

   July 1st, 2009 at 5:00 am

   There were pictures of Rachel Corrie on line after she died – mainly to prove that it wasn’t an accident.

   Part of the situation is that 70% of the population of Iran is under the age of 30. Before the vote, many of the under 30 group were flaunting the rules in small ways even though the punishment for doing so could be harsh if caught.

   Iran’s Young Rebels – originally aired May 10
   http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2009/05/051009_1.html

   CBC Evan Solomon report on Iran, March 2008
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM9KQ1Erd18

   Youth Revolution in Iran (Only if the first link doesn’t work outside of Canada because it misses out a lot)
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RLB4vas_0c

   Before the protests there was talk of a social revolution occurring in Iran – one being compared to The Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

   I don’t know much about this either, only all signs point to the election being bogus and the protests being about more than just the bogus election. Even some of Ahmadinejad’s supporters joined some of the later protests. And Ahmadinejad is not the real power in Iran any way – he is more like a puppet – you don’t cross any “red lines” by insulting him.

   One thing it isn’t is a desire for westernization – the government is putting that idea out there to discredit the Protesters. It is a rejection of the old, though.

   Other than that, I’m clueless.

   Any event in history is better understood in retrospect. This thing isn’t over.