Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Twittering

I have zero interest in Twitter. Hell I'm not even sure what a Blackberry does. But given the last three days in Iran I sure see the value of the Twitter as a means of communication when a government tries to shut everything down. Here's an excerpt from a Galleycat story today.


Douglas Rushkoff on Twitter and Totalitarianism

In a new essay, author Douglas Rushkoff praised the power of Twitter and Facebook in Iran--arguing these tools will lead to "the end of totalitarianism."

At the Daily Beast, the author of "Life Inc." details how Iranian hackers have subverted a government crack-down on the Internet through proxy servers and the Twitter hash-tag "#Iranelection" to sneak around the censorship.

5 comments:

Jon The Crime Spree Guy said...

I don't know if twitter will bring "the end of totalitarianism.", but it's cool to know that free speech is alive and well and defiant.

Maybe we should twitter about low insurance rates and jobs.

Librarian D.O.A. said...

Think of it as understandable (by anyone) Morse Code for the new century.

charlie stella said...

I never understood (or want to) this twitter thing ... that said, I guess it does serve at least one good purpose (what's going on in Iran).

I think we're gonna have to do a lot more than twitter over here (in the land of the free) to do anything about insurance & jobs, though ... My message from Ralph Nader today goes on about how much back-peddling Obama has already done on single-payer health insurance. Looks like change he's gonna run from.

Only if twitter were around back in the day ... "Twitter me this, Batman ..." said the Twitterer(?)

Librarian D.O.A. said...

As with any form of communication, Twitter is what you make of it and how you use it.

Still, Charlie, the name Twitter is silly and I have thought the "Twitter me this Batman" line a few times.

Also it crosses my mind that only a twit tweets.

And there is that other similar four letter t word that seeps in.

Bad bad.

Anonymous said...

Not long ago, in the 1980s, fax machines brought down the Soviet Union. There is something to be said for global communication.

RSW