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Twitter, Data Center Delay Upgrades Rather Than Cut Off Iranian Communications
from the the-power-of-twitter dept
I recognize that it's still fashionable to bash Twitter as being a useless toy for people with too much free time (despite many, many examples of how useful it is for those who use it properly). Yet, for anyone paying attention this past weekend, Twitter has emerged as an amazingly powerful communications tool as to what's happening in Iran, where there are massive protests, riots, rallies and attacks following the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iran Twazzup page has had a tremendous wealth of information from inside and outside Iran -- the sort of information that we wouldn't know about otherwise. It's an amazing view into the country that simply wasn't possible in the past. I remember in the runup to the war in Iraq, there were a few Iraqi bloggers you could follow to get a sense of what was going on in the country, but nothing like the massive ability of thousands of people to easily get the word out on what they're seeing on the streets of Tehran and elsewhere. It's really quite impressive, and I'm hard pressed to see how anyone could look at what's coming out of Iran via Twitter, and then claiming that Twitter isn't a useful or different communication tool.
With all that going on, it's fascinating to see that Twitter and its data center partner, NTT, have actually chosen to delay some critical updates, knowing that cutting off communications from Iran just as so many people are relying on it would be a disaster. While this does highlight a separate problem -- about the fact that as Twitter becomes a critical communication channel for some, the fact that it is a "single point of failure" is worrisome. It's definitely something that will need to be addressed at some point.
With all that going on, it's fascinating to see that Twitter and its data center partner, NTT, have actually chosen to delay some critical updates, knowing that cutting off communications from Iran just as so many people are relying on it would be a disaster. While this does highlight a separate problem -- about the fact that as Twitter becomes a critical communication channel for some, the fact that it is a "single point of failure" is worrisome. It's definitely something that will need to be addressed at some point.
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sensationalizing even the stupidest of headlines.
Yes, because "@localpolice burglary in progress! 1234 red lane #27! #epiclulz" happens all the time.
Introducing Mike Masnick, the Bill O'reilly of the blogosphere.
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Twitter pretty much looks like IRC on steroids. Tune into a channel, and watch people post meaningless crap most of the time.
Like any communications tools, it has it's moments. But let's not go overboard here.
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Could you please provide a tutorial on how to use it properly. I went to check out the all the hype of the Iran coverage but had trouble wading through post after post of dumb blondes rambling on about Iraq.
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"single point of failure"
As it continues to mature I'm sure we'll see many more sites available, all of which can communicate with one another transparently. There is no "central server" or "single point of failure" in a federated system like that.
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really?
It IS about the fact that twitter IS making a difference, right now, helping people communicate when many other methods of communication are being blocked. It IS about exactly what twitter is great at: rapid dissemination of information. You can complain that you don't like twitter, and you can claim that it is trivial in your life, but you can't say that is isn't being tremendously useful to others right now.
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Re: really?
Note the difference:
-Tehran, Protests Erupt Amidst Voter Fraud
vs.
@whoever The Rev. Guard just shot a protester in the stomach and stomped him to death! This is crazy!
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Re: sensationalizing even the stupidest of headlines.
Troll else where AC.
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Re: Re: sensationalizing even the stupidest of headlines.
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Too Funny
Thanks Mike!
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Re:
Like any communications tools, it has it's moments. But let's not go overboard here.
Except that we don't see Iranians telling the world what's happening via IRC, do we?
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Re: Twitter Use
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Twitter's Different
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Re: Re:Actually...
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FYI
Which makes understanding why Twitter is pissing off the Iranian government a little more understandable.
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