The political dust has settled down in Iran, but the world has not forgotten the heartbreaking image of the death of Neda. How did the world get to know about it when the Iranian government had tight control over traditional media?
The gravity of the devastation left behind in Haiti by the earthquake was far beyond imagination. The level of outcry was such that traditional media alone couldn’t handle mobilizing resources to help the people of Haiti.
The government of China stands to censor the internet, but how long will this last given the speed at which information technology is growing? Just like the rest of world, the Chinese people want to engage and interact with others. In a blog post, Google announced that it would no longer censor its Chinese search engine, even if it means pulling out of China entirely.
Ben Parr, Co-Editor of Mashable, wrote an article, Social Media’s True Impact on Haiti, China, and the World. The article highlights how ordinary citizens of Iran used social media to inform the world of what was happening during the presidential elections crisis.
According Ben Parr, it was impressive how charity text message campaign raised more than $10 million for Haiti victim relief. He enlightened that social media tools are breaking through China’s great firewall.
I wouldn’t think that social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blog, etc) are replacing traditional media, but rather; they have taken the world of communication to a whole new level. Leave a comment telling me what you think of social media’s role in society.
Abaya Sekou Sannor
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