The end of this blog

Over the past semester this blog has served as a forum for my opinions, news stories, and a wide array of class-assigned posts; but like all good things it must come to an end--kind of. This blog on Iran and Technology has run its course. I enjoyed writing greatly and feel that I have benefited from it as well. It was nice to see how my thoughts developed over the course of the semester. I think at the beginning I shied away from some topics and statements but recently I have become more assertive in what I have to say about the situation in Iran and its governing and influencing forces. More importantly it has fascinated me as to how technology has affected their situation--how it has allowed for a grassroots movement to not only establish a popular widespread base, but also to sustain itself in the following months. As I wrote towards the end of my last post, these people have used technology in a way that most Americans have not. They used twitter to spread the cause of democracy--we've used it to report on Maryland Day; YouTube for them is a their battle cry--for us its a place to post videos about skateboarding bull dogs. In Iran, Facebook (when its accessible) is less of a place to check out vacation pics than a place to find out when and where the next round of protests would occur.

No matter what, regular posting on this blog will stop in the coming weeks. I will be hindered from continuing my regular posting: between school work and employment and my summer plans it will be tough to keep going with this blog. If there is one thing I hope to continue it is blogging. This topic will prove to be hard to keep up with this summer as I am participating in the Persian Undergraduate Flagship Program in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I think this project has allowed me to put my thoughts down on paper (or webpage). I plan to keep my friends and family posted on my goings-on through blogging and I feel greatly prepared to do that. After that I'm not sure where my blogging will go--but I know that I have left this class with a newly acquired skill. I thank my professors, classmates, family, and anyone who gave their input--either publicly or directly to me. As previously said: this has been incredibly enriching and engaging encounter for me.

And along with this final post is my final "thousand word" segment. It is Dr. Seuss's take on the Iran protests. The Iranian government does not want the Green Movement to exist at all--in any venue (not even in twitter, maybe more so than anywhere else). Take a read. And thanks again.



(Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/30707740@N04/3645572910/sizes/l/in/set-72157620026952964/)

Why the Iranian government is scared of facebook. .

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leader of the Iranian Green movement has a facebook page (and was also named to Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2010). While facebook is blocked in Iran (along with Google and a few others) Mousavi still boasts a following of over 125,000 followers on the social networking site. Mousavi doesn't run the site himself but has relegated responsibility over it to Mohammad Sadeghi--an German-Iranian living outside of Iran. Sadeghi also manages the facebook site of Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard (also on Time's 100 list). The two have utilized social networking sites for some time now--Sadeghi said he christened Mousavi's page the before President Obama's inauguration.

I found the article regarding Mousavi's facebook site on a blog site called Global Voices (it may sound familiar because there is a live feed from their site on the right-hand side of this website). The site interviewed Mr. Sadeghi about his work, his opinions on the elections, and his thoughts on citizen journalism among other things. They ask Sadeghi about the impacts of citizen journalism in Iran--if it has slowed in recent months, if it helped Mousavi. Sadeghi responded as follows, "I would summarize the impact of Mousavi’s Facebook group as a 'process innovation' to incorporate existing social network platforms into the Persian language media bandwidth...[a] second revolution in my opinion has been initiated by Mr Mousavi who called for 'citizen staffs' and hence the automatized use of a wide range of suppressed potential for fundamental change. This decentralized campaign had the opportunity to exploit a wide range of communication methods - as the very tool of a campaign- while working out a consensus for a model of change. The Facebook page initiated and evolved the process of information by transforming the campaign into a non-political atmosphere of social networks" (Source)

Sadeghi is a believer in the power of the PC. It is no secret how much the internet has helped this movement sustain itself even while it has confronted threats and acts of violence, a decentralized leadership, and a whole gamut of other obstacles. The internet's effects on post-election Iran is both undeniable and immeasurable. We value the internet in the US because it lets us stay in touch with our family and friends, check news and scores, etc.; but Iranians have taken things like twitter and facebook--social networking sites that here in the US are pretty trivial and even causes of social development or interactive issues in teens--and have turned them into an all-powerful weapon of mass construction. The Green Movement is lives thru facebook posts, text messages, and YouTube videos. My first "thousand word post" was of a man threatening a violent mulla with the statement "Stop or I'll tweet!" People laugh and remark "how interesting" it is, but the power of that cartoon is not in its hilarity but in its truth. These thug basijis and mullas are running scared--they are terrified of the Iranian people for their ability publicize their crimes and abuses. People like Muhammad Sadeghi are criminals in Iran because of they expose the actions of the government and bolster the opposition. Sadeghi and his associates are prime examples of fine journalists--and more importantly the prime examples of the Iranian regime's worst nightmare.

More coverage of the protests

The LA Times tweeted it had videos of this weekend's events in Iran. Their report states that protests occurred throughout Iran. One instance in small town in the Iranian countryside unemployed citizens clashed with police when they threatened the cops with machetes and sticks.

You can a look at some of the videos and content that the LA Times posted online. I posted one of them before (its one from students protesting Ahmadinejad at Tehran U) but the others are new and pretty good. Quality is iffy because, as in the past, they were taken on mobile devices. Green Iranians now videotape protests or security forces or events by starting to record video and then put the phone to their ear as if they are talking.

They are as resourceful as they are brave.

Protests continue in Iran

The visibility of Iran-related stories on the news seems to have gone down in recent months, (in spite of the fact that foreign media are allowed in once again) spurring a lot of people to think the Green Movement is over and done with. People seem to forget that this is not a single-issue group--they are not so concerned with the election fraud as they are with their civil rights. The Green Movement wants nothing more than a realization of democracy and civil liberties as promised in the constitution that was ratified after the 1979 revolution.

Just yesterday on International Worker's Day, or Ruze Kargar in Persian people across the country--as has been the habit for some time now--protested, perhaps not as vocally as on previous days, but they were absolutely out. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi called for labor groups to join the Greens in protest against the government. NY Times correspondent Nazila Fathi wrote yesterday how things did not go as planned. Tehran was reportedly packed with security forces as to deter any potential protestors. This video shows security forces are out in strength in Tehran. This one was taken at Tehran University where students protests an appearance by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Keep an eye on Iran because the next month or so promises to be intense, with the one year anniversary of June 12 Election approaching. Any thoughts on where it will go?