Iran Elections & Twitter
This will assist you in being involved in Twitter and how to behave there. It's important to read this so you don't make mistakes.
Twitter Hashtags #iranelection #gr88
It is imperative that ACCURATE and verified information gets out from Iran. You can help by doing the following:
DO NOT RT (retweet) ANYTHING to do with any of the Iranian Tweets, and especially DO NOT mention any of the trusted names/sources.
Do not tweet anything that is not VERIFIED by one of the trusted sources.
FOLLOW ONLY TRUSTED SOURCES
There are many government agents now on Twitter. At first their posts seem credible, but in reality, they want you to follow them, and once they have a decent following, they'll start spreading lies and pro-Ahmadinejad propaganda.
DON'T USE A TWITTER STREAM FROM #iranelection OR #gr88
Use any twitter client where you can set only those you follow, or where you can enter multiple searches for those user names you want to follow. That way you can avoid the hundreds of people who are posting in the Iran related hashes (#) just for the hell of it, for nefarious purposes, or simply posting and reposting misinformation.
KEEP LOOKING AT THIS PAGE
This page lists known and suspected fake Twitter IDs, who are posting on the vital hashes (#iranelection, #gr88). To avoid huge streams of misinformation, just follow trusted sources. These are people well known to those who've been on twitter since the beginning of the Iran Election. We can no longer tell you who they are for security reasons.
If you know who the trusted sources are, DO NOT advertise it in any Twitter message, or anywhere else.
WHAT CAN BE BLOCKED FROM TWITTER
While Twitter itself and most other sites are blocked from Iran, some very clever and resourceful people in Iran know how to get around it. Once they're around the blocks, EVERYTHING on Twitter is available to them. Hashes can't be blocked. User names can't be blocked.
CHANGE YOUR LOCATION in Twitter and DON'T ADVERTISE IT!
Most people on Twitter now know to change their location to Tehran, Iran with the Tehran time-zone, but PLEASE DON'T ADVERTISE IT.
Anyone looking for fake geolocations can easily go back through your posts and see, "I'm now posting from Iran", or "I've now changed my location". It's total stupidity to advertise - you're just making it known that you changed your location, curtailing the government's search so they can quickly eliminate you from the real posters in Iran.
USE COMMON SENSE, KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT
Many of the people following the Twitters from Iran, are not Iranian.
Please don't assume anything about what they really want for THEIR regime.
You may think that total democracy as in the USA is desirable, for them, but don't assume you know what they want. Derogatory comments about Islam or about any other deeply-rooted religious and/or cultural practices in Iran only serves to fuel the anti-USA and other anti-Western World sentiment that is drummed into them.
If you want to know more about Iranian culture, there are plenty of places on the Internet you can learn. The Iranian people are good, kind, generous and loving people with a very long history. They generally do not reflect their government's views. Having said that, don't assume they all want the moral freedoms we have. Some do, some don't. Even in a totally free and democratic Iran, you will still see some people in veils who are deeply religious, just like you'll see people f all religious persuasions in the west.
Any rude comments about Islam or about Iranian culture will only fuel the government's anti-western sentiment and will insult those people in Iran who who have beliefs other than yours. Not all in Iran are religious, but please respect those who are.
Don't forget that the basis of the current problem revolves around the election and the cheating that took place. That is the primary issue and remains so.
The goal of the protesters is to have a fair election. They didn't get that. Anything else you think they want, can be a false assumption on your part. Like anywhere in the world, in Iran there are opposing views of cultural and religious practices.
Don't assume that government agents will or won't do something. They can be brutal. If you think that they won't do something based on common sense human rights violations, think again. Remember, they've had 30 years of an oppressive regime - time enough for young children to be brainwashed, time enough for some people to submit to the government's will and promote it.
Please use common sense and don't assume anything unless you really know better!
Most of all, think twice before you post ANYTHING that you think is fact to any of the Iran Election twitter hashes, or to any part of Twitter for that matter. You may well be putting someone else life in danger.
If you like this article, please Tweet to #iranelection and/or link to the location so more people can read it! The tweet button below is general and won't tweet to any hash-tags.
27 comments:
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this is very true and more people should read this. esp westerners.
Anonymous says
Wow, tks, just learning what and how tweeter is, please be carefull guys
Anonymous says
We should not RT Iranian tweets, but how do we know which ones are really from Iran? Should we never RT and always reword?
Is it all right to list the fake Twitter IDs on #iranelection?
Anonymous says
i agree
Anonymous says
Thanks for posting this blog, especially about TWITTER.. please keep us posted on Twitter/Tech updates.. and/or any way of helping.. thanks!
Shirin says
restructure - at this stage you probably can't figure out what info is real and what isn't. So let others who know RT real info. Keep a watch on the fake ID page. You'll have to ask them if you can re-post the fake IDs. It changes all the time. Better just to point people to that page.
Mikael Lönnroth / Voters Union says
Thanks for a great page. Here are two humble comments:
- Even when RT without name it's very easy to find the original update so most importantly the Iranian posters should avoid giving out any information that could be used to connect the Twitter account to themselves.
- I checked the spamlist yesterday and IMHO there were some spamlisted accounts that just had a difference of opinion about things, so it's good to keep in mind that deliberate misinformation/spamming should be blocked, not opinions.
Dave Potts says
I've been haunted for five days thinking western tweeters are doing far more harm than good. At the very least we're adding to the confusion with every RT. Just tweeted this. It should be required reading. Thank you.
Anonymous says
Hey
I m Marc from NY,
of course it goes without even saying, this regime MUST GO.
Like America Iran is a big country and of course ignorance contribute to the continuity of the establishment.
Like GWBush and Dick Cheney, Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the prime protagonists.They wont just walk away from immense powers without being chased out like losers and why? Because, like in America, under the extreme right wing regime of GWBush, or under any other right wing regime, for that matter, compromising is not part of the agenda…
Iran must gain the right to chose and government must listen or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lose everything.
But I suppose,unfortunately, thats the way it works……
Anonymous says
This is completely contradictory. "Only follow trusted sources, but we cant tell you who they are."
Looks like Im back to square 1, which is just following the two main hashes and just trying my best to decide what is credible and what isnt.
Anonymous says
who wrote this, i am an iranian and none of us are were religious, it has always been the uneducated in iran during the last revolution the mullah idiots that took iran by surprise and took over, who the heck u are telling people they are religious we are not afghanis or iraqis .. we are persians who fight for seperation of state and religion if the god damn mullahs let us. please do your research and no i am not in tehran thats why i speak freely.. my head cant be caught off for saying this. down with imperialism and communism and religion and state.up with new Iran new PErsia.
Shirin says
I've approved this comment...
"who wrote this, i am an iranian.."
And who says I'm not? I could be.
I know PLENTY of Iranians who are religious, both inside and outside Iran. But if you read the piece properly it says "you will still see people wearing veils" meaning SOME. Sure, before '79, it was much more secular. You forget - 30 years of brainwashing Mullahs and a resurgence of Islam in general. My point was that people should watch what they say so as not to offend people (whatever their beliefs). It was NOT stating what you assumed I did.
Besides, why are the uneducated not entitled to their religious beliefs? You may be judgmental, but I'm asking others not to be.
Shirin says
To "This is completely contradictory. 'Only follow trusted sources, but we cant tell you who they are.'"
I know, it's a bit silly, but I didn't know how else to say it. Plenty of other places on the web to find who they are, but it's not going to come from me.
Anonymous says
Thank you, words to heed.
Anonymous says
before one post check BBc and fox websites if the event or report is true then they would have it on their web site
Right now there a report unconfirmed that tanks have moved in but no boday at cnn fox or the bbc has reported tanks , So this story most likely a plant
just think be you retweet
Unknown says
thanks for this. i've been wondering lately if the European and American retweeters haven't been just adding to the mass confusion. i'll be linking (away from Twitter) to the twitspam page to watch.
elizabeth (Los Angeles)
Anonymous says
Retweeting usernames is not dangerous and may in fact be counter productive, please read: http://bit.ly/1dqQ5M
otherwise great post!
Shirin says
To "Retweeting usernames is not dangerous and may in fact be counter productive"
I was simply relating what we've been asked repeatedly to do, however, I totally get that article. It makes a very good point because there's more and more chaos in that hash. People posting rubbish and so on. I don't follow the hash, I follow trusted people, so I only get the stream I want.
Anders says
@IranElection: Why should we trust what you are saying - you may also be working for the govenment! Please give more details about who you are.
Unknown says
?Will you have a blog going this evening as you did yesterday- It was very informative to me, an american, I am so new to this-
Shirin says
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shirin says
To Anders
You're quite right to question, however, do you see anything at all on this site to make you suspicious?
I'm protecting my identity because I have relatives in Iran, none of whom Tweet, know about this blog or are in any way computer savvy.
Oh yeah... and none are government agents!
I allow anonymous comments, which protects you as well.
Anonymous says
I can see where there are human rights violations
someone need to be held accountable and brought to trial in the Hague
mazari says
Iran election from computer programmers aspect:
http://www.cafewebmaster.com/iran-elections-php-computer-language
Anonymous says
Very Good. Common sense isn't so common, and sometimes intelligent life is hard to find. I'll RT
Pray4FreeIran says
Actually, users can be blocked by Twitter from appearing on Twitter Search or hashtags. Some accts have also been suspended recently due to "human error" so some folks have "disappeared" from #iranelection.
Please see Twitter Help for more information on their Terms of Service to avoid getting flagged/blocked from search.
If you are already blocked, however, or your account has been suspended, please send a help request to http://twitter.zendesk.com/requests/new. Thank you!
Gabriel says
Shirin,
I am writing a paper on the West's understanding of the Iranian election. I really like this post .