This week I did some research on how the Iranian people used social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to aid in their 2009 protests. The people in Iran were upset at the time because incumbent President Ahmadinejad won in an election that seemed to be rigged. Among the many complaints against the election results were the facts that there were more votes casted than people who were eligible to vote and Ahmadinejad had landslide wins in areas that were known to dislike him. The Iranian government tried to silence the protesters by making it illegal to protest in the streets so the protesters took their protests online and began attacking Ahmadinejad's website, sharing anti censorship software, and posting information, pictures, and videos that showed the brutality of the Iranian government. Eventually, the Iranian government shutdown Internet access to the outside world to prevent other countries from seeing their crimes but they forgot to shutdown Twitter and information continued to leak out of Iran for a time.
This story was important to me because it was the first time I had heard of protesters utilizing social media sites to protest their government. It was also the first time I had heard of Twitter and I found it amazing that news organizations were actually treating it like a reliable source of information. In the past, I had always assumed that information found on social media sites were either biased or false but in that time the only source for reporters was Twitter. I suppose a good reporter could read through a hundred Twitter posts about a specific event and put the pieces together to form a coherent story, the same way a detective would form a coherent story after interviewing a hundred witnesses. To its credit, Twitter played a big role in investigating the 2009 Iranian protests but I was so surprised that people didn't forget about Twitter when the crisis was over. In fact, Twitter is now one of the more popular social media sites on the Internet!
It is interesting that social media can be used, not only as a form of entertainment, but a way to have your voice heard. However, I still question how effective it is. Every election year, I see people posting politically charged messages on Facebook but I have never heard anyone say that he or she changed his mind about who he was going to vote for based on those comments or memes. When I see comments or memes that include facts to make a good point, I hit the "like" button. When I used to see comments or memes that include false or misleading information and make a flawed point, I used to try to correct the person who posted it but I have found that only leads to anger and arguments. Most people who post memes on Facebook have already chosen who they want to vote for and believe so strongly in their positions that they will refuse to change their minds, despite the facts they are presented with. Studies have shown that once people chose an ideology, they will hold tightly to it, no matter how wrong they are. An interesting video about that can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW74tkA28u4. Unfortunately, logic and facts don't change people's minds, emotions do. Nowadays, when I see false or misleading political information on social media, I just shake my head, unfollow the person, and go on with my day.
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