Les médias sociaux et les élections iraniennes

Greg — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:05:04 +0000

Je ne suis pas un spécialiste en politique, et je ne compte pas vous parler des élections iraniennes en tant que telles. En revanche, je pense qu’il est intéressant de s’attarder un peu sur la manière dont les contestataires utilisent les médias sociaux, et Twitter en particulier.

Le gouvernement a vite fait d’empêcher les gens de protester pacifiquement dans les rues en n’hésitant pas à ouvrir le feu sur les opposants au régime d’Ahmadinejad. Dans un premier temps il était encore possible de suivre l’évolution de la situation dans les grands médias internationaux, mais les autorités iraniennes n’ont pas hésité à interdire aux journalistes de médias étrangers de couvrir les manifestations (et leur répression). Bref, c’est un joyeux bordel là-bas, et on nous empêche de le voir et de s’en informer.

Et c’est là qu’interviennent les médias sociaux, puisqu’il semble que ceux-ci vont prendre sérieusement le relais des grands médias internationaux. De nombreux Iraniens n’hésitent pas à tweeter ou partager des photos et des vidéos des manifestations sur Flickr ou Youtube, ou encore à partager de l’information via Facebook. Ce qu’on voit ici, c’est qu’il est devenu impossible pour les autorités iraniennes de censurer ou contrôler totalement la population et les médias, car le peuple trouve dans les médias sociaux un canal de communication alternatif.

Outre l’aspect communicationnel, on voit également apparaître une nouvelle utilité stratégique aux médias sociaux: l’organisation des manifestants pro-Moussavi. En effet, les manifestants utilisent maintenant Twitter ou Google Maps pour se tenir au courant des lieux de rassemblements ou des déplacements de chars et de militaires, et j’imagine que l’on devrait encore voir se développer d’autres mashups.

Le peuple iranien n’a peut-être pas encore la démocratie, mais c’est sûr qu’il a trouvé un nouveau moyen de faire entendre sa voix, et nous devrions l’écouter! N’hésitez-pas à suivre l’évolution de la situation via #IranElection.

Update: Twitter est maintenant utilisé comme canal d’information, de mobilisation et d’organisation principal. Les autoritéstentent de bloquer l’accès aux comptes et de blacklister des adresses IP, mais on voit apparaître diverses tactiques visant à compliquer leur tâche:

des retweets invitent les utilisateurs de Twitter à changer leur biographie et leur profil en y indiquant Tehran comme location (Help out the Iranian bloggers: change your Twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. #IranElection), et en changeant de fuseau horaire afin de correspondre à celui de l’Iran. La solidarité générale permet ainsi de protéger et de cacher dans la masse les profils Twitter des vrais Iraniens (et en particulier ceux des journalistes).
des attaques par deni de service sont mises en place afin de surcharger les serveurs gouvernementaux. Des plus simples aux plus complexes, des dizaines de sites permettent de soutenir l’action des opposants au régime d’Ahmadinejad.

A lire aussi, le Cyberwar Guide for Iran Elections:

The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through Twitter.

This was taken from http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/16/cyberwar-guide-for-i.html

1. Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. Security forces are monitoring this hashtag, and the moment they identify a proxy IP they will block it in Iran. If you are creating new proxies for the Iranian bloggers, DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they will distributed them discretely to bloggers in Iran.

2. Hashtags, the only two legitimate hashtags being used by bloggers in Iran are #iranelection and #gr88, other hashtag ideas run the risk of diluting the conversation.

3. Keep you bull$hit filter up! Security forces are now setting up twitter accounts to spread disinformation by posing as Iranian protesters. Please don’t retweet impetuosly, try to confirm information with reliable sources before retweeting. The legitimate sources are not hard to find and follow.

4. Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘Iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them.

5. Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind…

Et enfin, pour suivre l’évolution de la situation là-bas, allez jeter un oeil sur Live-Tweeting the Revolution.

Similar Posts:

Why we use Facebook to promote our concerts

Greg — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:30:53 +0000

This article could apply to all kinds of events, but I’ll focus on concerts because that’s the field that I know the best. We’ve booked a lot of DIY (Do It Yourself) concerts in the last five years, and we did use every possible way to promote it. From oldschool flyers/stickers/posters to social media, we tried everything we could. MySpace was our first step into social networking sites, until we tried Facebook.

So, this post is about Facebook and why I think it’s good for events promotion.

Before the concert

When you create an event, you can add the precise location or address and Facebook will generate automatically the link to Google Map, MapQuest, Microsoft and Yahoo maps. From there, your guests can print the map and easily get the directions to the venue.
All the information added to the event will be embedded to an iCalendar file that your guests can download (and import to their calendar software). I discovered that function some weeks ago and I think it’s really useful! I downloaded the iCalendar files for every show I’m attending, and they got automatically included into my iCal.
The Wall can be used to answer questions from your guests. They can also use it to arrange meetings, ask for a ride or a place to crash after the concert.
With the RSVP (literally “reply, if it pleases you”), you’re able to know how many people plan to come to your concert. Our experience has shown that many people are marking themselves as “Attending” and don’t come to the event. So, don’t trust this too much.
If your event is set as “Open”, your guests will be allowed to invite friends (on Facebook) to the concert. This option is very useful because your guests can invite people you don’t know, and spread the information about your show to their network. This viral diffusion can help you to reach a lot of new people real fast.
When we create an event on Facebook, it’s hosted by our group (the Disobedience Collective). This is useful because we have a fanbase, a niche where we can start our promotion. The rest is just word of mouth and In Real Life interaction.
Don’t forget to add pictures, videos and links to the bands that are playing. Useful things to provide to you guests could be: links to Myspace/Purevolume/Last.fm pages, links to the bands websites, pictures and videos from lives performances, links to website where they can order tickets, etc.

After the concert

Guests can submit their feedback (suggestions, remarks of just kind thoughts about the concert) on the wall and you can interact with them.
Guests can browse the guestlist to find people they met at the concert.
Guest (or you) can upload pictures (and tag people in it) and videos from the concert. They can also share links to their Flickr or Picasa accounts.

But don’t forget

Use oldschool offline promotion: word of mouth, posters, flyers, stickers, advertising in zines, getting your concert in the events calendar in nightlife publications, etc.
Use online promotion: post the flyer on message boards and webzines, use your status-message and screenname on MSN and instant messaging services, send the flyer by email to all of your friends (and friends of friends) and ask them to forward it, spread the word about your show on Twitter and Myspace, etc.

These are only a couple of ideas, feel free to share yours!