"The return of the Twitter Revolution?" Part II

Perhaps looking back on the rise of the "Twitter Revolution" nar­ra­tive during the Iranian protests of June 2009 can shed some light on the path for­ward, including how to approach its more subtle but per­sis­tent vari­ants such as “the Wikileaks Revolution” (Tunisia) and “Revolution 2.0” (Egypt). In Iran’s case, techno-utopianism in inter­na­tional cov­erage boomed due to for­eign jour­nal­ists being banned, cred­ited Iranian jour­nal­ists being restricted, and a young, mobile, tech-savvy, and highly edu­cated pop­u­la­tion being at the ready. Certainly, the Western audience’s recog­ni­tion of social media net­working sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as pop­ular, Western, youth-oriented, and benign also played a part. But the “Twitter rev­o­lu­tion” also caught on due to a number of nar­ra­tives that, in the Western con­scious­ness, pre-existed the uprising.

"The return of the Twitter Revolution?" Part I

In her latest speech on internet freedom, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared the internet the “town square” of the 21st cen­tury. Clinton seized on the wide­spread atten­tion for Facebook during the Egyptian rev­o­lu­tion and used the oppor­tu­nity to reit­erate internet-oriented US for­eign policy. Just days ear­lier the Egyptian people had ousted Hosni Mubarak, their dic­tator of 30 years. Cairo’s Tahrir Square had been occu­pied by pro­testers, stained with the blood of the revolution’s mar­tyrs, and gained iconic status as the center of the 21st century’s most pop­u­lous rev­o­lu­tionary move­ment. Soon after, pro­testers in Libya named the Northern Court in Benghazi “Tahrir Square Two.” If these events show us any­thing, it is that the town square of the 21st cen­tury is still, simply, the town square.

Caught off guard

So, a while ago a reporter contacted me about my blog and wanted to quote me on the Persian Version piece. Only thing was he was from the US State Department and writes for America.gov. In any case, here's what he wrote. Despite any scruples I might have had about the journalistic integrity of someone who works for the US (or any) government, I agreed to his request and was fine with what he wrote. Just the latest reminder of how the strange, online spaces of the internet can bring you into contact with people you never thought you'd be talking to.

Pomegranates on the Market

Some friends recently put out a compilation album called Pomegranates. I wish I could have been there for the release event and to follow the response to the album, but I hear very positive things. In fact, late last month the two did live sets at an event with Hypernova, a New York-based band said to be at the forefront of Iranian rock, and Yellow Dogs are featured in Nobody Knows About Persian Cats, a (Cannes Film Festival) Award winning film by Bahman Gobadi (see flier below). In short: pretty cool. And pretty interesting as a music album is a form of mediated and material culture that is possibly closest to youth, pop culture, and the second generation.

Iranian Americans: The-Making-Of

An exciting, new exhibit opened at UCLA's Fowler Museum over the weekend: Document: Iranian Americans in Los Angeles. It's based around photographs of and by Iranians in LA, and what makes it really interesting is the focus on "the second generation." Since the 90s Bozorgmehr, Mahdi, and others have been calling for further understanding, documentation, and analysis on the second generation, but over the years very few have gone there. On the other hand, I can see this starting to change as second generation Iranian Americans start studying, documenting, and representing themselves, and in doing so, construct their "selves" in idiosyncratically second-generation ways, which are at times contiguous with, and other times distinct from, their parents' generation. All this is part of the ongoing process of making and remaking Iranian American-ness that's happening today in unique ways.

Going Viral

I’ve been wondering for a while why certain YouTube clips go viral among Iranian Americans while others obviously don’t. Are there videos that go particularly viral among the second generation? An example that comes to mind is the “I love you America” video that I had sent to me by a second generation friend I met in LA (if you're on the homepage click "read more" below to see the vid -- or tell me how I can get it to post without people having click).


Anyway, before I knew it, people were posting it all over Facebook and referencing it in conversations, jokes, face-to-face, on the phone, and of course our hero was “Iranian of the day” on Iranian.com. Seeing this, and the 87,000+ views  it got on YouTube, I guess we could say it went viral. So, what's the appeal? 

A friend to whom I showed the video said it was all about the genuineness of the singer - the fact that he represents his own, very particular, and very candid way of being both Iranian and American at the same. The more people I talked to the more I heard about the importance of being real and honest online. Why this emphasis when it comes to online communications? Is it because we must always beware of fakes on the net? Or is it, rather, because the internet is a particularly effective medium for sharing in honest and open ways?

Strong Aversion to the "Persian Version"

The reactions started immediately. I have to admit, my own gut couldn't hold back its impulsive reaction to possibly the newest addition to the quality MTV programing that graces our screens across the globe. Hot on the heels of the announcement came the angry, sarcastic, concerned, ridiculing, responses from Iranian Americans. I secretly felt quite proud. But apart from the obvious low-brow -ness of the whole thing, is there a more precise reason why the Persian Version strikes such as sensitive chord with us?