The New Social Web: #IranElection

The power of change has always been via dissemination of information. Those that seek to prevent change make moves to prevent information being shared. Recently, in Iran, we've seen amazing courage and a call to minds/actions. All done via "social media" like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Is this the new "social web"?

Here are some thoughts that stand out from the Twitterverse:

RT from Iran: "140 chars is a novel when you're being shot at." #IranElection

RT from an Iranian: "I realize now i do not fear death. I fear my daughter will not be free when i die." #IranElection

RT from Iran Change your Twitter Location to Tehran & Time Zone to GMT +3.5. Help shield #IranElection & confuse Iranian censors!

RT U.S. Government Asks Twitter to Stay Up for #IranElection Crisis http://viigo.im/V6v

RT all my posts as much as possble to help confuse censors - #Iranelection

RT People have green pics to support the protesters in Iran #iranelection.

RT Open Letter to the World - English Version http://bit.ly/u7TZJ #iranelection

RT Going green for Iran. . . wish I could do more. . . #iranelection

And, tons of video at YouTube, LiveLeak, etc. Each designed to enable counter attacks in the cyber-war for the hearts/minds of Iranian civilians. Is the US now infringing the sovereignty of a UN Member State by enabling the Twitter universe to engage in anti-government activities? We say yes. We also say it must.

Does this constitute another wave of information? We used to get our Current Events much more slowly (if at all). First it was letters, then newspapers, then telegraph, then movies, then television, then cell phone (audio only). Now, we're getting real events streamed (nearly) live via cell phone cameras and text messaging. Seems impossible for any change averse polity to hold back this tidal wave of information.

In the end, what does all this mean? Are we getting truly unadulterated versions of events? Or, are we getting less and less "re-packaging" of events? Either way, this is a trend that shows no sign of stopping or slowing down. The move to "real-time reality" is truly a tidal wave. It will be interesting to see how governments ("open" or "closed") respond to this new wave.