Comments on: Iran: Myth and reality about Twitter

By: Ética e jornalismo: a desonestidade da Veja | Autores e Livros

Ética e jornalismo: a desonestidade da Veja | Autores e Livros — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:19:22 +0000

[...] de protesto no Irã, `Mito e realidade sobre o Twitter no Irã´” [o artigo é este, no link, em [...]

By: Redes (só) da democracia? « Fronteiras Digitais

Redes (só) da democracia? « Fronteiras Digitais — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:28:11 +0000

[...] manifestações, explica Tehrani, aconteceram por causa de mensagens SMS. Ele escreveu, inclusive, um ótimo raciocínio sobre o que é verdade e o que não é na influência do Twitter na questão [...]

By: O Jornalixo da Veja, a Ética e a Manipulação Midiática | Boimate News

O Jornalixo da Veja, a Ética e a Manipulação Midiática | Boimate News — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:23:34 +0000

[...] protesto no Irã, ‘Mito e realidade sobre o Twitter no Irã’” [o artigo é este, no link, em [...]

By: Global Voices بالعربية » إيران: تقدم العسكرة الإسلامية الافتراضية

Global Voices بالعربية » إيران: تقدم العسكرة الإسلامية الافتراضية — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:55:40 +0000

[...] تويتر الذي وظّفه العديد من المتظاهرين الإيرانيين لكي يبلغوا رسالتهم إلى عناوين الأخبار (بالإنجليزية). ومثّلت الرسالة التي تركتها الجمعية خلال [...]

By: Global Voices Online » Iran: Cyber Islamic Militarism on the March

Global Voices Online » Iran: Cyber Islamic Militarism on the March — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:38:34 +0000

[...] international micro-blogging site Twitterr. The service had been used by many Iranian protesters to make news headlines. The message left by the group during the one hour that Twitter was hacked illustrates their [...]

By: Laura-Jane Cunningham

Laura-Jane Cunningham — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:02:01 +0000

In the following paragraph you mistyped your subtraction.

“Recently one of several people tweeted that 700,000 people had gathered at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran. Several people re-tweeted it and even posted the news on their blogs. Meanwhile mainstream international media estimated the number of protesters was between 3000-5000 people. What could have happened to the other a 699,5000 people?”

699,5000 should be 697,000-695,000, because you are subtracting 3-5 thousand and not 3-5 hundred.

By: ella

ella — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:11:59 +0000

I would partly agree with Mr. Tehrani.
Even before elections international journalists could not report freely from Iran, they censored themselves because otherwise the government would not renew their visa or they would be booted out from Iran.
That was state of affairs in “normal” situation. But now situation is far from normal. International media can not report from Tehran so for majority of that media Twitter and calls from Iran are the main sources of information. All news from inside Iran by reporters inside Iran should be viewed as fully vetted by the government and therefore reflecting the Ahmadinejad government point of view which is not necessarily real status of affair in Iran.
So all estimates of number of demonstrators, number of basijis, and so on and so forth is just what is says – an estimate slanted by the journalist imagination and relevant media policies.
Like reports in BBC that between 200-300 protesters in Tehran chanted “Death to the dictator” which is really a far from truth – there were thousands of protesters, only not in one place as they were prevented from demonstrating.
Like statements in al Jazeera (english) that there was crackdown on protesters, reformists, journalists and political activists who have opposed the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In the first case there was something like thousands protesters, only not in one place; in the second the people did not oppose re-election of Mahmoud ahmadinejad, they opposed falsified elections.

By: Jillian C. York

Jillian C. York — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:52:10 +0000

Excellent piece, Hamid, particularly your conclusion, which begs reiteration: “It’s the people behind the screens that matter, as much as the people who report on what they are saying.”

By: Deconstructing “the Twitter revolution” « MobBlog

Deconstructing “the Twitter revolution” « MobBlog — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:36:39 +0000

[...] Tehrani of Global Voices gives a sober assessment of the role of Twitter in the Iranian election protests. One of the issues he raises is the temptation to relay breaking news without verifying it. The [...]

By: Moctemoc (Zoey Amino)

Moctemoc (Zoey Amino) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:33:07 +0000

Very true indeed and a good example. I remember the first tweet estimating 3000 ppl gathered. Then it was RT’ed a few times, and suddenly it became 33000, then 60.000 and finally 700.000

My personal estimate is more than 3000, possibly more than 5000 that wanted to attend but was blocked. But we will never know for sure.

Any information being published, be it twitter or even newspapers, should at all times be treated with sceptism. By investigating further the reader may eventually be able to piece the right information together and make up their own minds of what to think.

By: Jacob Russell

Jacob Russell — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:35:38 +0000

Usefull information. It doesn’t take long with a some critical evaluation to figure this out… you can vet the twits by what you’ve seen before, by an increasing number of filter questions… but then the information is there where it’s too often absent altogether from MSM.

By: سارا

سارا — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:46:13 +0000

great article. I just have one quick note. In your language you assume that tweeters are male. For example:

“Receivers – especially if they are not Iranians – may think the GUY is in Tehran and tweeting from the frontlines.”

It is no doubt that Iranian women have been equally present in most aspects of this struggle, including reporting and tweeting. So I would appreciate you using gender-neutral language. Being invisible is not a good feeling.

By: Noli Irritare Leones » Blog Archive » Global Voices on #iranelection Tweets

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:04:57 +0000

[...] Hamid Tehrani at Global Voices has an interesting analysis of Iran: Myth and reality about Twitter. [...]

By: geneven

geneven — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:12:25 +0000

Twitter is approximately as reliable as conversations with real people are. I never saw the tweet about 700,000 people, and if I had, I would have immediately looked to see whether reliable people echoed that estimate, just as I would never trust a spectacular claim by Fox News.

In other words, Twitter is extremely reliable and extremely helpful, if used properly.

By: Yishay

Yishay — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:54:51 +0000

Most of the analysis I’ve seen so far is dominated by English twets. I imagine internal discussions were mainly in Persian. Do you have any data on that?