UPDATE June 16, 2009 4:12 p.m. ET
Will they or won’t they?
According to a CNN Blog Post, the US Government has asked Twitter to KEEP RUNNING during the Iran crisis. That would mean no scheduled maintenance as originally planned for 2 p.m. Pacific Time today.
“It is a very good example of where technology is helping,” the official said.
Also check out The Lede by the New York Times for:
supplement reporting from New York Times correspondents inside Iran
Original Article Continued Below…
As previously mentioned, Twitter is playing a huge role in the continuing saga that is the dispute over the 2009 Iranian Elections.
Earlier today, Twitter announced a scheduled maintenance for 12:45 a.m. ET to last about an hour and a half.
While, this would have meant the late night hours for people in the United States, who are going off to bed, watching television and getting off their computers – this actually, meant maintenance would be scheduled for Tuesday morning (June 16) in Iran when more activity is bound to occur.
Less than an hour later, users of the social networking site were protesting the maintenance with the #hashtags “#NoMaintenance” and “#NoTwitterMaintenance.”
Taking everything into consideration, from the Huffington Post to Mashable to CNN etc., Twitter, together with its host, NTT America, have decided to reschedule for Tuesday afternoon, which alternatively would be the middle of the night in Iran.
Talk about the Twitter Effect on itself.
Biz Stone, one of the co-founders of Twitter, had the following to say on the site’s blog:
“A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight’s planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).
Our partners are taking a huge risk not just for Twitter but also the other services they support worldwide—we commend them for being flexible in what is essentially an inflexible situation. We chose NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services early last year specifically because of their impeccable history of reliability and global perspective. Today’s decision and actions continue to prove why NTT America is such a powerful partner for Twitter.”
The thing is, the point of all the Twitter-frenzy isn’t how many people are on Twitter, or how many people read it – but rather, of the people that do, the messages that are able to get out.
Lest we forget, it was Twitter who called out CNN and other news networks for no initial coverage of the riots and flames set upon Tehran and other Iranian cities. It was thanks to Twitter than on Sunday @DonLemonCNN and Co., actually started integrating social media outlets, iReports and, behold, Twitter, into their televised cast.
I read something on #Journchat Monday night that pretty much solidified what #CNNFail is all about:
@DavidRozansky If we are angry enough, the word will get out. MLK did it. Why not Twitter. #journchat
The most important lesson to learn from today has nothing to do with Twitter itself, or the amount of people being Green for Iran, but rather the power of communication.
It was through Twitter that real-time video, reports and photos were filtered through the internet about the situation in Iran before the news stations got their hands on it. It was through YouTube that mass videos shot up via mobile phones showcasing what the television cameras didn’t want to show you. And it was through Flickr that hundreds of pictures of the demonstrations, beatings and gun shots were uploaded for the world to see.
That’s the power of technology. That’s the power of communication.
It is a crucial partnering tool, which can even overcome the odds of censorship and the accessibility to information.
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Sasha Muradali runs the ‘Little Pink Book’ . She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida and an M.A. in International Administration from the University of Miami. She loves Twitter and all things social media, so you should find her @SashaHalima.
Copyright © 2009 Sasha H. Muradali. All Rights Reserved.
