Online social media's influence on global information exchange
Kristin LeGrow | Contributing Writer
Issue date: 11/25/09 Section: Lifestyles
Mike Lyons addressed a crowd of UNCW students and faculty in Kenan Hall Tuesday, Nov. 17 and spoke about the "new media moment" and its influence on transnational journalism and information exchange.
Online social media, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, have entered the forefront in global information exchange. These sites boast anything from video coverage of protests in Iran to forums about Kanye West being the most-hated celebrity.
"Some tyrants like Twitter, too," said Lyons of the newest trend in online social networking. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other sites have quickly become some of the fastest media to share information globally.
Lyons opened the speech with a recount of RelCom, an online forum based in Moscow, Russia during the Soviet coup in 1991. RelCom was a powerful and informative underground network run by about 70 programmers in a basement. RelCom became an authoritative source of information about the coup, reporting first-hand accounts of events, and relaying news stories and official statements. RelCom also served as a forum for discussion, later becoming flooded with information posted by citizens hoping to reach family members and friends that they had become separated from as a result of the coup.
Lyons compared this original form of online social networking to popular sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, which are currently among the leading sources of up-to-date information about global affairs. Though administrators of these sites do exercise a level of control over the information shared, users can engage in free, instantaneous exchanges of information.
Recently, a failed coup in Iran was the topic of nearly 8,000 "tweets" per hour. Iranian Twitter users would post anything from real-time accounts of actual events to simply the words "tear gas."
"Neda Soltan became the poster child for the situation in Iran," Lyons said of the young Iranian student who was shot and killed by stray bullets during a protest in Iran this year. A video recorded from a camera phone captured Soltan's death and quickly circulated the Internet via YouTube. Had an eyewitness not been readily equipped with their cell phone and documenting the protest, her death and what it symbolized would have gone unnoticed. Instead, she became a symbol of the pressing need for change in Iran.
"The Iranian government is watching. They use Twitter, too," Lyons said. The government of Iran reportedly uses Twitter in investigations as well as to track and arrest people who exchange pertinent information via Twitter updates.
Online social media, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, have entered the forefront in global information exchange. These sites boast anything from video coverage of protests in Iran to forums about Kanye West being the most-hated celebrity.
"Some tyrants like Twitter, too," said Lyons of the newest trend in online social networking. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other sites have quickly become some of the fastest media to share information globally.
Lyons opened the speech with a recount of RelCom, an online forum based in Moscow, Russia during the Soviet coup in 1991. RelCom was a powerful and informative underground network run by about 70 programmers in a basement. RelCom became an authoritative source of information about the coup, reporting first-hand accounts of events, and relaying news stories and official statements. RelCom also served as a forum for discussion, later becoming flooded with information posted by citizens hoping to reach family members and friends that they had become separated from as a result of the coup.
Lyons compared this original form of online social networking to popular sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, which are currently among the leading sources of up-to-date information about global affairs. Though administrators of these sites do exercise a level of control over the information shared, users can engage in free, instantaneous exchanges of information.
Recently, a failed coup in Iran was the topic of nearly 8,000 "tweets" per hour. Iranian Twitter users would post anything from real-time accounts of actual events to simply the words "tear gas."
"Neda Soltan became the poster child for the situation in Iran," Lyons said of the young Iranian student who was shot and killed by stray bullets during a protest in Iran this year. A video recorded from a camera phone captured Soltan's death and quickly circulated the Internet via YouTube. Had an eyewitness not been readily equipped with their cell phone and documenting the protest, her death and what it symbolized would have gone unnoticed. Instead, she became a symbol of the pressing need for change in Iran.
"The Iranian government is watching. They use Twitter, too," Lyons said. The government of Iran reportedly uses Twitter in investigations as well as to track and arrest people who exchange pertinent information via Twitter updates.
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