Steampunk + Twitter + Anarchy = Terrorism!

[Jenne]

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

To which hyperbolic statements I usually respond with: time for you to visit such a country in order to be able to make that comparison with credibility.

I suppose I should rephrase to underline the meaninglessness of the statement:

A major difference between the US and Iran is that Iran does not claim not to be Iran.

(This is because Iran is Iran, and the US is not Iran)

[Jenne]

To which hyperbolic statements I usually respond with: time for you to visit such a country in order to be able to make that comparison with credibility.

I suppose I should rephrase to underline the meaninglessness of the statement:

A major difference between the US and Iran is that Iran does not claim not to be Iran.

(This is because Iran is Iran, and the US is not Iran)

  Ok.

[Triple Zero]

WHAT IS THIS, IRAN?

Hmmmm so if I overlay stars and stripes on my Twitter avatar, this would help, right?

Are you thinking Iran = the US here?  Americans may have Patriot Acts and illegal wiretapping, extraordinary rendition and Gitmo, but I don't know, we're not Iran. 

But that were your words? What did you mean by that, then? Cause I was just riffing on that.

[Jenne]

WHAT IS THIS, IRAN?

Hmmmm so if I overlay stars and stripes on my Twitter avatar, this would help, right?

Are you thinking Iran = the US here?  Americans may have Patriot Acts and illegal wiretapping, extraordinary rendition and Gitmo, but I don't know, we're not Iran.  

But that were your words? What did you mean by that, then? Cause I was just riffing on that.

During the "revolt" in the recent re-election of Ye Olden Regime in Iran, we all know the crowds used Twitter to update the people around the world of the so-called mob control that was happening.  Smack-downs everywhere.  This started a Twitter trend--go to a protest, and Twitter the riot police cracking heads.

The headlines about the repercussions in Iran seemed somewhat parallel (but not in any way congruent) in THIS instance.  That was what I was pointing out.  If this guy is being prosecuted, however, for things OTHER than Tweeting the head-cracking, that is certainly very different.  But it seems the facts of the case in Suu's OP are varied according to when you get them and who you get them from.

The poor fucks in Iran, on the other hand, have had their families jailed, their friends killed, and have lost a lot of lives and so-called freedoms they never really had.  And their fight rages on.

[Triple Zero]

Yeah, but at least a shitload of people turned their twitter avatars green for them. I mean, that counts for something, right?

[Jenne]

AT least some of the women getting jailed and ticketed for the wrong color hajib had someone carrying their voice for them.

AT least some of the men who were afraid of being shot or beaten had someone phoning it into a major media outlet so their pain wasn't in vain.

At least the crowds of anger didn't get tamped down by fear but instead rose and fell with the swell of human emotion that can carry a crowd forth and make its demands heard.

Worldfuckingwide.

[Jenne]

Or maybe it was all just a fashion statement after all.

[Triple Zero]

Yes it was, 99% of the people on Twitter that changed their avatar colour didn't have anything to do with the stuff you just said. There was even a website that would do it for you with a few mouse clicks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not downplaying what happened in Iran, just downplaying the part that Twitter played in it.

[Jenne]

So?

If 1 person out of a million hadn't changed it just to be a dumbfuck, the message wasn't diluted as it was spread.

Sorry, I don't believe that information on tyranny is made separable from its meaning just because there's an idiot carrying the message forth.  The message is the same, regardless of the relative intelligence, purity of motives or machinations of the person spreading it.

In fact, that's the best thing about going viral.  You get people who don't even understand the depths and breadths of what contagion their spreading is until the results are digested.

[Triple Zero]

You just said yourself the stuff that actually helped, happened by phone and major media outlet. Twitter was just full of regurgitated links and people accusing eachother of being spies and green avatars. Have you actually seen it?

I don't think the protesters in Iran were very aware of the cacophony in the twitterverse. And not because their Internet got locked down, but because the ones that did get online didn't waste their time with some useless new media tool, but were sending emails.

No, the "twitter revolution" was just a way for the rest of the world to pretend they were doing something, by clicking their mouse (you don't need to type to RT old links). Which was blown up by the other media because Twitter was the new hip thing.

Surely "it" went viral. Something went viral. But what was "it" ? What exactly went viral? Information on tyranny? Really?

Because then, in a way, that chain email about the kid with leukemia that will get cured if you just forward this email to 15 other people, could be said to raise awareness about leukemia.

[BabylonHoruv]

A major difference between the US and Iran is that Iran doesn't pretend not to be Iran.

Nope.  Iran pretends not to be the US.

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

A major difference between the US and Iran is that Iran doesn't pretend not to be Iran.

Nope.  Iran pretends not to be the US.

That's another big difference. The US doesn't pretend not to be the US, while Iran does.

[Cain]

Trip is right.  What happened on Twitter during the Iran protests was pure masturbation by comfy, western middle class liberals who want to fight a "war of ideas" without actually, you know, having to move from the couch.

On the other hand, Iranian protestors fought in the streets with religious fundamentalists armed with clubs and guns, made alliances with more reform minded clerics in government, broke open a massive debate about the direction of the republic and brought several major cities to a standstill.  If western liberals wanted to help out, they should have been sending guns, bombs and international brigades to help the Iranians, not turning their avatars green and retweeting every link with an #iran tag.

But then, you know, they might've actually had an effect on the world, and its much easier to pretend you're doing something which actually doesn't achieve anything but giving them warm fuzzy feeling of being a principled freedom fighter.

[the other anonymous]

Trip is right.  What happened on Twitter during the Iran protests was pure masturbation by comfy, western middle class liberals who want to fight a "war of ideas" without actually, you know, having to move from the couch.

On the other hand, Iranian protestors fought in the streets with religious fundamentalists armed with clubs and guns, made alliances with more reform minded clerics in government, broke open a massive debate about the direction of the republic and brought several major cities to a standstill.  If western liberals wanted to help out, they should have been sending guns, bombs and international brigades to help the Iranians, not turning their avatars green and retweeting every link with an #iran tag.

But then, you know, they might've actually had an effect on the world, and its much easier to pretend you're doing something which actually doesn't achieve anything but giving them warm fuzzy feeling of being a principled freedom fighter.

The revolution will not be tweeted! REVOLUTE ME BACK!