Broad Side of the Barn

One of my first thoughts on seeing Twitter being used by Iranians following their elections was, ‘Imagine if they had Twitter during Tienanmen Square.’ Totalitarian regimes historically thrive, in large measure, by controlling the media and modes of communication. Would be protesters become isolated. Government propaganda simply spins any protest or event into something that reflects well on the regime in power.

Yet now there is Twitter, other social networks, and the internet at large.
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...This has taken on a life of its own on Twitter. Users have set up proxy servers for Iranians to use as the government shut down internet access within the country. People are turning their Twitter avatars green in a show of support. Twitter itself has rescheduled maintenance downtime at the urging of users so that it will be available to Iranians during their peak hours. People are also changing their time and location settings on their accounts to Tehran time and locale in order to confuse Iranian officials who are trying to find out who is tweeting inside Iran...
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There is no doubt the opposition in Iran faces an uphill struggle. They have since day one. They are armed with some communication tools, while the government wields guns, tear gas, and nightsticks. This is a struggle for truth as well as a struggle for freedom.

The role Twitter has played in the Iranian protests has served the secondary function of drawing a lot of people into the cause of supporting a free Iran. Yet with this has come some complaints that people are not educated enough to suddenly support a free Iran when a week ago many of those same people could not even name the two people running for president.
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