Election Day

Yes, the headline suggests another typical article on the troubles of our world and thus runs the risk of perhaps another futile attempt at suggesting a solution to our most politically pressing issues.  Well, it’s worth the gamble.

Let’s examine 3 major events that Social Media affected:

-> Iran Elections

-> Google and China Censorship

-> Earthquake in Haiti

In 2009, “Iran elections” was the most twittered item of the year. In June of 09’, The U.S. State Department asked Twitter to delay the release of a service upgrade to protect the interests of Iranian citizens. This free, fast and highly mobile social media service provides certain demographics with a voice they don’t normally possess. In a sense, it acts as a social equalizer. Twitter delivered published, real time information from distraught Iranian citizens in Farsi and English. It was an ideal platform for mass protest.

Haiti Aftermath

Similarly, Google recently threatened China to pull out of the country due to China’s censorship laws. Similar to Iran, Chinese citizens, who are typically oppressed and left without a voice, now maintain ways to articulate opinions with the help of social media tools.

Perhaps most impressive is the impact of social media on Haiti. After a 7.0 earthquake, a slue of tweets and status updates heavily streamed across the web as Google, Skype, GoDaddy, Facebook and other tech giants mobilized. The Red Cross already raised $10 million through their charity text message campaign; Google threw down $1 million, Skype gave each Haitian a $2 voucher that allowed citizens to make 1 hour worth of calls to the U.S.

Although I am not suggesting that political crisis is solved through social media, it does receive more exposure from everyday people, altering the outcome of crisis around the globe.  As we learn new ways to leverage social media, we ought to consider the potential for information dispersion and its effect on global dilemmas.

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