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#IRANELECTION
Analysis of the Social Media Response Iranian Election
June 2009
DIGITAL 1
BACKGROUNDER
• Key Players: Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi
• Situation: Ahmadinejad claimed victory in presidential
elections with more than two-thirds of the votes.
However, Mousavi and other reformists claimed major voting
irregularities occurred. Peaceful, then eventually violent
protests occurred when hundreds of thousands Iranians took
to the streets of Tehran.
• Media: Due to the heavy censorship of mainstream media, citizen
journalists relied on social media, such as Twitter and
YouTube, to communicate the situation to both Iranians and
the outside world in real time.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
“That a new information technology could be
improvised for this purpose so swiftly is a sign of the
times. It reveals in Iran what the Obama campaign
revealed in the United States. You cannot stop people
any longer. You cannot control them any longer. They
can bypass your established media; they can broadcast
to one another; they can organize as never before.”
- Andrew Sullivan
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CONTENT SUMMARY
Overview
• Twitter emerged as one of the leading sources for real-time information in the
day after the Iran elections
• Twitter was used primarily in two ways
– To disseminate information about what was happening on the ground
– To communicate between Iranian protestors about events, meetups and
election related news
• The conversation on Twitter primarily took place around the hashtags
#iranelection and #gr88
• #CNNFail Twitter users criticized large news outlets, primarily CNN, early-on
on for not adequately providing complementary coverage of the situation.
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THE BUZZ
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TWITTER
Initial Figures
Twitter by Numbers
• More than two weeks after the election, #iranelection and “Iran” continued
to be trending topics on Twitter
• The conversations peak with any major developments, such as Neda or
student arrests
• The conversation lifecycle days and weeks following the event represent
sustained, heavy coverage
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YOUTUBE
Facts
• YouTube served as the primary distribution channel for video on Iranian events
after Ahmadinejad claimed victory
• The site allowed citizen journalists to upload mostly unfiltered content to the site
to be viewed by its millions of followers
• Although the site appeared to be blocked in Iran, videos still surfaced that
captured the chaos and violence at the protests
• The videos generated millions of views worldwide even as Iranian traffic was
diminished by almost 90% in the weeks after the election
• The most infamous video was taken of Neda Agha Soltan as she died from a
gunshot wound to the chest at one of the protests
• Top search terms for finding relevant videos were “Iran riots” ; “Iran protests” ;
“Iran election 2009”
• Top channels for viewing related videos was “Irandoost09” and “IranianNews”.
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YOUTUBE
Figures
YouTube by Numbers
• During the post election protests, blogs provided information primarily in two
ways:
– Live blogging by credible sources aggregated the news on Iran in one, easy
to access location with content streams longer than the 140 character limit
bound to by Twitter
– Blogs allowed sources from inside Iran to post what was happening on the
ground, in close to real time
• Revolutionary Road was touted (by Mashable) as being the top blog from
inside Iran.
• The top non native sources for live blogging about Iran, Nico Pitney’s work at
the Huffington Post and Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish.
• Blogs also accounted for the distillation of links and word of mouth content
across the online space, allowing for authentic and spontaneous discussion
around the politics of the election
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BLOGS
Figures
Blogs by Numbers
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FLICKR
Facts
Images from inside Iran told the true story.
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IMPLICATIONS
THE BIG PICTURE
Implications
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THE BIG PICTURE
Implications
Accountability:
#CNNFail demonstrates that social media harness increasing power to keep major news
organizations accountable. Previous journalism models emphasized the power of the editor as
the primary gatekeeper. The news agenda, however, is no longer dictated by editorial staff and
is increasingly defined by the public. News orgs face an incredible, but necessary ,pressure to
align media coverage with public interest
Timeliness v. Accuracy
Social media heightens the urgency of the continuous news cycle, which creates a challenge for
trusted news sources to balance timely news coverage with accurate, trusted reporting and
analysis.
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THE BIG PICTURE
Implications
What does this mean for PR?
Relevance:
In the very least, the social media storm following Iran’s elections demonstrates the strengths of
social media in a crisis: speed, unfiltered content, community engagement and widespread
dissemination. The Iran crisis has further emphasized the relevance of social media. Audiences are
utilizing these tools to gather and disseminate information and to ultimately build a movement.
Proficiency
The relevance of social media makes it increasingly important that PR pros demonstrate digital
proficiency. Iran reveals, in a way that only a crisis can, that social media is a communications
strategy not merely a tactic. Harnessing the power of a viral community to galvanize public opinion
and produce results is essential to the future of PR.
Engagement
“In handling global issues where public opinion is formed as quickly as a Facebook group,
communicators must immerse themselves in these techniques and strategies, and use them not just
as a defensive position against protesters, but as a part of their offensive strategy. “ – from PRWeek
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