image via CaglePost.com

It is interesting to see how the web is being used as a tool for activism in Iran. And probably more importantly how people around the world show their support for the cause. Let’s take Twitter and Iran. Most of the news is coming out of this country through Twitter. And journalists really don’t have to much way to verify it. Information is coming in through facebook, direct messages blogs and more. And then we see a serious problem begin to occur. The point of Anonymity. I posted about my conversation with Ethan Zuckerman a number of years ago. My friend Rodrigo Sepulveda filmed part of that conversation at Le Web. But one part when we talked about political activism didn’t get in there. He said something very important. The fact that citizen journalists need to be able to have anonymity in the tools they use to be able to report without risking their lives. The stories out of twitter and the other social news site while being one of the only means of communication out, also become difficult to verify and track. But it may save peoples lives, the ones that are posting if they keep their anonymity. Or at least from prosecution should things really go south. Something to think about.

But now I see also the slew of information and support from things such as the Green Icon creators, Facebook Cause Pages, and other digital support to keep pressure on the press and the media to keep reporting about it. Through that exposure I beleive change does happen. And let’s be honest, it would nice to think about someone else’s problem rather than our own nowadays.

Tomorrow I might be joining, Bicycle Mark along with Amsterdamize and some other people to talk on National Dutch TV, VPRO about Activism and 2.0. I suspect they will talk about the twitter revolution, but I’m not sure if they realize the greats like, InvisibleChildren.com, Josh Wolf’s story or a slew of others. I said once, You want to make a change in the world? The tools are there on the internet. Use them.

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