This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Iran and "The Twitter Revolution"

Topic Description

More remarkable than the election protests in Theran in June 2009 was the embrace of a popular myth that those demonstrations were the result of a novel microblogging platform named Twitter. This unit examines the technology, hype, psychology and history of "The Twitter Revolution."

Readings

Holtz, Shel, Havens, John C., and Johnson, Lynne D. "Profile and Privacy: Transparency in Social Networks." In Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media to Maximize Value and Build their Brand. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2008. ISBN: 9780470293706. [Preview a version of this book in Google Books.]

Starr, Amory. "Be the Media: Independent Media Centers." In Global Revolt: A Guide to the Movements Against Globalization. London, UK: Zed Books, 2005. ISBN: 9781842774830. [Preview a version of this book in Google Books.]

Resources

The Iranian Election on Twitter: The First Eighteen Days, Web Ecology Project. (Researching quantized social interaction)