Internet brings events in Iran to life

Advertisement

Amateur video showed a wounded man after shots were seemed to be fired by the Revolutionary Guard on Monday

All over the world people are monitoring unfolding events in Iran, where an apparently decisive election victory by the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is being challenged on the streets, via the internet.

Although there are signs that the Iranian government is trying to cut some communications with the outside world, citizen journalism appears to be thriving on the web.

Here are a selection of popular links, many of which have been written from a particular point of view but - when taken together - provide a wide range of perspectives.

Read what our editors have to say about social networks and Iran

Meet some of the people who are following the news on the web

TWITTER

As it is capable of providing short updates of eyewitness observations, as well as spreading links to news outlets, Twitter has seen fast moving conversations about the Iranian election.

A Twitter search for #iranelection will yield the latest information in short bursts

Twitter can be updated via a computer or a mobile device which means that instant messages can be sent to the service. Users in Iran are seeing blocks to mobile services and some websites and so are turning to proxies and work-arounds that mean information can get out, but heavily delayed.

The importance of this online service was highlighted as the U.S. government is reported to have been in touch with Twitter and other social networking websites to try and make sure that the possible flow of information is accessible to the rest of the world.

Some caution needs to be observed when reading Twitter - for example, "tweets" picked up outside Iran and then "re-tweeted" elsewhere can have the potential to turn unsubstantiated rumours into "facts".

A simple way to follow the conversation about Iran on Twitter is to use a search aggregator, or a site that brings together tweets by topic.

The latest tweets on the elections can be retrieved by typing in #iranelection into the Twitter search box.

Mousavi supporters can be identified on twitter by their green icons and the #gr88 which stands for Green Revolution 1388.

There are aggregators that automatically bundles together the latest Iran tweets can be found here.

Other similar services that search twitter include Tweetscan and Twitterfall .

Twittersearch provides real time updates from Twitter as they come in.

IMAGES

As well as the dramatic photographs of protest on the streets of Tehran featured on the BBC's news website , the Iran-based photoblog Tehran24 has been updated regularly.

Uploading pictures in Iran is a slow process

The site owner says that his pages have been filtered in Iran and that people inside the country cannot see it. He says that uploading online is very slow and that it can take up to an hour to post an image on his own pages.

Images are also available on Flickr's general Iran feed and photographs of election protests in London are available here.

This Picasa album depicts striking images of protests and disorder on the streets of Tehran.

More pictures are available on CNN's user-generated site iReport.com

VIDEO

Scores of amateur videos have found their way onto YouTube, including this collection of films tracking the election from its first campaigns to recent protests on the streets of Tehran and London.

YouTube is showing video from the streets of Tehran

Many of those who watch take the time to comment and campaign below the clips. Comments may include strong language and impassioned opinion.

Videos uploaded by Kosoofvid have been sent to this person by his friend in Iran who is a filmmaker.

Iranlover100 has video showing scenes of violence in the street. The video title claims that Basijis are shooting at civilians. This footage has not been verified, it was uploaded on 16 June.

persianlover2007 has uploaded what looks like a mobile phone recording uploaded on 13 June in Vanak Square, Tehran.

arihman46 has uploaded video of disorder in the streets with fires burning in the road, entitled "Revolution in Iran".

This user also has clear images of protesters marching in the streets, filmed from above to show the size of the crowd. Both videos were uploaded on 13 June.

mbv1364 also has video that looks like mobile phone footage. Filmed from a building above the protests it shows hundreds of people marching in the streets. It was uploaded on 13 June.

YouTube user hadih81 posted footage of people protesting early. This video was uploaded on 8 June.

FACEBOOK

This social networking website has long been a place for people to gather around a cause or theme and share their views on events.

So far, most Facebook users appear to disagree with the election results, such as I [heart] Iran which is written in Persian and English.

Many Facebook groups protest the vote

Other Facebook members have posted video footage of the protests such as this.

There is also a campaign to persuade fellow Facebook users to change their personal icons to the colour green to show support for the Iranian opposition.

Another site: "Iran. Take back your vote." has short updates from Tehran as well as links to videos and opinion about the election results.

Not all of the Facebook groups are gatherings for Mousavi supporters. "In support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" is a small gathering of people who defend the results and support his policies.

WEBSITES AND BLOGS

The Iranian government-funded PressTV website says protests "reportedly got violent" after supporters of presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Mousavi took to the streets. So far however, pictures of the protests themselves have not made their way onto the site.

The Huffington Post has been live blogging as the Iran story develops with a useful pull-together of stories and images out of Tehran with updates from wire services and other sources.

A similar news blog with all the latest updates, news and comment is being hosted by the Guardian. and the New York Times

The BBC offers up-to-the-minute coverage of Iran's election aftermath in English and Persian

Blog aggregation site Global Voices offers up what it calls a "global conversation online" and features analysis and images sent from contributors in Tehran.

Saeed Valadbaygi's "Revolutionary Road" blog puts together pictures and videos which have been posted on blogs, YouTube and Facebook. Warning: this website might contain graphic images.

Another blog, Tehran Bureau is a well-connected blog from expats, experts and academics.

Juan Cole on Informed Comment has looked at election figures which he says don't add up.

But Five Thirty Eight appears to knock down some analysis which supposedly proved the election was rigged.

Gary Sick, a US academic and Iran expert, is blogging with photographs and links to video.

And Andrew Sullivan in the US is pulling together material for the Atlantic magazine.

For those who want to know what non-English bloggers are saying, the National Iranian American Council is live blogging and translating Twitter messages in Farsi.