We’d All Love To Change The World: Welcome To the Twittolution
Changing the world for the better doesn’t happen at the point of a gun, but it is happening via computer terminals. The US Department of State asking Twitter to delay an outage so as not to interrupt a revolution is a mind-blowing development. One can easily mock Twitter. Do I really need to know that a friend of mine just had a cup of coffee or woke up feeling tired? But what’s being proven now is how much can be accomplished in 140-word sets.
[State Department official Jared] Cohen, a Stanford University graduate who is the youngest member of the State Department’s policy planning staff, has been working with Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other services to harness their reach for diplomatic initiatives in Iraq and elsewhere.
Last month, he organized a visit to Baghdad by [Twitter co-founder Jack] Dorsey and other executives from Silicon Valley and New York’s equivalent, Silicon Alley. They met with Iraq’s deputy prime minister to discuss how to rebuild the country’s information network and to sell the virtues of Twitter.
Referring to Mir Hussein Moussavi, the main Iranian opposition candidate, assistant secretary of state for public affairs PJ] Crowley said, “We watched closely how Moussavi has used Facebook to keep his supporters informed of his activities.”
Tweets from users like IranNewsNow and the pro-Mousavi StopAhamdi will, in the long run, be shown to have had a more positive impact than any military invasion could, even if the government doesn’t immediately change.
Twitter is just one current in the internet flood, and the world’s leaders should take warning. Today I may need somebody’s news bureau to chase down all the video clips to show how many times and in how many ways a politician has contradicted him and herself. Tomorrow we’ll all have those same clips with one mouse click, along with voice stress analysis and twelve other metrics telling us if somebody’s lying or telling the truth.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Alan said: Changing the world for the better doesn’t happen at the point of a gun…
K: Seemed to work for us in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI, and WW2…. Seems to be currently working for us in Afghanistan and a few other places around the globe…
OldLefty Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
The Revolutionary War, and the the Civil War, like Iran right now, were grass roots movements, and not imposed upon us by a foreign power.
WW11 was a war against those who attacked us.
Kregg Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 2:09 am
None of which alters the fact that we changed the world for the better ‘at the point of a gun’.
OldLefty Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 7:12 am
“None of which alters the fact that we changed the world for the better ‘at the point of a gun’.”
………………………………..
Only when justified, often it has been changed for the worse ‘at the point of a gun’.
The point was that what is happening in Iran, right now, is a grass roots movement, not a military coming in to force something on them.
michael Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
It may be the “easy way out”, in that war, especially when you have a strong military, is the easiest way for a particular government or armed group to get its way, but it certainly is not the BEST way or the MORAL way. Wouldn’t be great if all of the millions who died in all of those conflicts were around now to reap the benefits? Aren’t Gandhi and King’s methods of civil disobedience preferable means to bring about positive change to the mass death and destruction of war?
EricG Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Gandhi and MLK represent left wing ideology.
I just wanted to throw that out there.
The liberals stand for peace and progress while the conservatives stand for war and regression.
I know I’m not supposed to say (according to Johnny Knoxville) the word ‘retard’ but can I say ‘Retardicans?’
It just fits.
It’s not about being disabled. Not that ‘retarded,’ the meaning to do with stunted growth or pushing back the natural progression of events.
Retardicans.
See it makes sense.
Just for perspective … I got angry listening to Savage calling us ‘Demon-cats’ and tried to come up with something to counter it.
Then I thought that up and I dunno about using it a lot. Most people arn’t getting how I’m using it.
flap Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
You’re bigoted against mentally handicapped people.
Kregg Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Michael said: Aren’t Gandhi and King’s methods of civil disobedience preferable means to bring about positive change to the mass death and destruction of war?
K: Weren’t Gandhi and King assassinated?
OldLefty Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 7:00 am
“K: Weren’t Gandhi and King assassinated?”
……………………………
They were, but their movements were successful.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
“Seemed to work for us in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI, and WW2…. ”
Actually, no. Guns create graveyards. And as we well know it’s very easy to win the war but lose the part that comes after the war, when there’s hundreds of thousands or millions of dead and hardly anyone left to bulldoze the rubble around.
Changing the world for the better requires a helluva lot more than guns and killing and the dead.
EricG Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
You sound like your sane, Rocky.
That’s a relief.
Let me share something I heard on conservative radio recently:
“The only way the nation will change is through the ballot or through a bullet.”
And then the host just stayed completely mute. He said nothing.
Well this kind of talk is what gets people like Tiller killed. This kind of talk and ignoring it instead of denoucing it the reason why many conesrvtaives support domestic terrorism.
They constantly invoke the idea that change comes from violence and murder and bombs dropped.
If this were true you would think parts of Africa would be utopian dreams right about now.
flap Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
“They constantly invoke the idea that change comes from violence and murder and bombs dropped.”
Ever hear of the Revolutionary War? That wasn’t exactly a Code Pink peace rally.
“Many conesrvtaives [sic] support domestic terrorism”
You support or condone late-term unborn baby killing, EricG. That’s a lot more violent and prevalent than war deaths. I don’t support any domestic terrorism. Almost all moderate conservatives do not.
Kregg Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 2:16 am
Of course we could just wish away the Hitlers, Stalins, Pol Pots, and Sadaam Husseins of the world and then we could sit around and sing cumbya together in perfect harmony. Except we’d be dead…
TDro319 Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
K: “Except we’d be dead…”
TD: I’d imagine you’d thank the perpetrator for sending you to live with your god.
Daddio Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Then you can say that automobiles create graveyards. Knives create graveyards. Cancer creates graveyards. Smoking creates graveyards. Swimming pools create graveyards. Heck, anything that can kill you creates graveyards Rocky.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
CHANGE=ADAPT=SURVIVE
It’s so obvious…send in the GEEK SQUAD!!
Victory is just a Twit away.
EricG Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Do me a favor?
Get all conservatives off the web for me. Tell them something like:
Only commies Tweet, or only liberals do blogging.
Thanks. That’ll help a lot.
Since you hate technology and geeks like myself, please just take your conservatives on out with you. We have serious stuff to do here and those guys and gals are just lying and making racist jokes so … please? … take them off the internet for good.
Because the internet is geeks, didn’t you know? It’s an exclusive enterprise reserved for the elite few.
RDM Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Urgent…TURN IN YOUR GUNS FOR POCKET PROTECTORS.
It’s the Twittolution. Victory is near.
Thank You America.
EricG Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Urgent news-flash!!!
Killing people in abortion clinics just became legal thanks to the domestic terrorism group called FOX News getting itself passed into law as a religion.
Thank you Ronald Reagan.
You destroyed America.
flap Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
“Domestic terrorism group called FOX News…”
Then by implication Alan Colmes condones terrorism since he is a part of this “domestic terrorism group” that is masquerading as a moderately conservative news organization! You’re posting on a domestic terrorist’s website! Give me a break, EricG.
“And then the host just stayed completely mute. He said nothing.”
See, I don’t expect Alan to repudiate some of the outrageous stuff you spout on here, as well as callers, and conservative talk show hosts aren’t generally responsible for their callers, either.
Daddio Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 7:58 am
It’s official now. Eric is a left wing radical lunatic windbag. :)
TDro319 Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
“It’s official now. Eric is a left wing radical lunatic windbag. :)”
Oh good! Here is where I get to use the right wing answer to everything. Daddio, Eric is a left wing radical lunatic windbag because he disagrees with you?
June 17th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
We should watch this closely, this could be the biggest story in some time…..(unless the government really cracks down, and it peters out).
But then again, it’s not Letterman/Palin.
michael Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Perfect example of how the corporate media is screwing America.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I love being proven right … yippie!
I have no grand love nor grand hate for Twitter but I have been going on about getting people connected and moving messages between more people faster is nothing but a good thing. Some have said that the messages themselves need to have worth for it to be worth anything to us all. I disagreed. I stated that if we ever needed it for something more serious like … a revolution … we might just find that out Tweets became rallying cries of a new democracy … or a place to know where not to go and get your head shoot off.
Then it happens, in Iran.
Holy smokes! What prediction will I get right next!?!
–
“Changing the world for the better doesn’t happen at the point of a gun, but it is happening via computer terminals”
So true. You can change the world with bombs and guns and torture … but never for the better … never in the long run. The blood drips down to the next generation, and the next, and the next, until the killing stops.
RDM Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Eric, you are the Man!
Warm up your Geekmobile and head for the Mideast. Moussavi can certainly use your smarts.
Good Luck, May the wind always be at your back.
EricG Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
It’s not smarts. I’m able to see the future. I can talk to the universe, make it my toy.
Want something? Have a desire?
Tell the Master Guru!
He shalt bestow upon thee mighty gifts!
RDM Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Master Eric Guru
Grasshopper has a few questions:
If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
Is there another word for synonym?
Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
What should I do if I see an endangerd animal eating an endangered plant?
Does the little Mermaid wear an Algebra?
If I ate both pasta and antipasto, would I still be hungry?
Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?
Master Eric, why did you tell me don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things?
I guess I’ll never understand why you believe what you believe.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
You’re bigoted against mentally handicapped people.
That’s fine, his President is bigoted against Special Olympians.
TDro319 Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
“That’s fine, his President is bigoted against Special Olympians.”
He learned it from Bush and the Dick who are bigoted against Muslims and Americans
June 17th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Alan, I give you some plaudits for sensing that Twitter was gonna be a big thing…I usually am good about sensing tech breakthroughs, etc. (I was using Google back in 1998/99), but I never thought Twitter would be a big thing. I was dead wrong. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t interest me or I am getting older.
I remember that you had a post about it. I think you mentioned Twitter and some other fast message blogging service or something like that.
placefield Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Yes,
The point of it just eludes me.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I love Twitter!
If you want to follow a Liberal like myself, my screen name on Twitter is Tim_in_NH
June 17th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
but I never thought Twitter would be a big thing.
50% of new twitter users stop using twitter within the first month.
michael Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I know I did.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:16 pm