So I’ve finally done it. After avoiding all of the Twit phenomenon on some vague principles I couldn’t explain (this includes turning off the radio whenever the “word” was mentioned!), I’ve finally gone to check out the site. It seems you do not need an account to find out what other people are twitting(…tweeting?) about. You can simply search ANY word, phrase, or incomprehensible idea, and get a running commentary of public opinion on the subject updated in .6 second intervals. 

So this is it, huh? This is the social networking device that could be held accountable for organizing an Iranian Revolution? Maybe that is a bit dramatic, but it is amazing to me that so much momentum has come from these 140 character info-squirts. 

Iranian authorities have banned any foreign media coverage of events in Tehran following the disputed election. This is not a new tactic for contested President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the months and weeks leading up to Iran’s election, the flow of social and public media allowed in and out the country was squeezed tighter and tighter. Foreign correspondent were not the only journalists struggling with the restrictions, as all forms of media within the country of Iran were also being monitored and censored. The Iranian government has complete control of its airwaves, so it is no surprise that on certain days (like the day President Obama gave his address to the “Islamic World”),  all television and radio broadcasts in the nation are shut down. More impressive is that the government has found ways of shutting down facebook, myspace, and many bloggers participation in civilian journalism. The one surviving free forum for public discussion in Iran?  Twitter. 

The importance of Twitter in Iran has been recognized by the U.S. State Department, which contacted the company during the weekend to request that Twitter not take its service down for scheduled maintenance. Twitter is working to keep the entire globe abreast of events in what has become a most romanticized political event. So after five days of listening to stories about how secret demonstrations of impassioned young revolutionaries were being organized over this bizarre new social landscape that I thought would certainly never be more than a joke and a nuisance…I decided to give the twits a chance.

Try it. I searched “Iran” first, then “Iran Election”, then “Mir-Hossein Mousavi“.

I was not able to make sense out of any of it, but maybe that is my ignorance. Perhaps there are some level of Twitskillz needed to really navigate this overflow of…information? Perhaps it takes a well trained eye to spot a method in the madness. Nonetheless, I grow surprisingly reverent and speechless. I sense a certain amount of gravity in this new e-space; I am frightened and emboldened by how quickly our world is moving in directions I do not understand.

Twitter, as everyone now knows, is playing a pivotal role in mobilizing the daily rallies, even though it’s blocked, along with Facebook and YouTube. So you are probably wondering how people are getting their tweet on. Well, ingenious Iranians have long circumvented these filters, creating proxy servers on which access to all manner of banned material is possible.

I don’t think there’s any turning back, either. For years, many of the rules limiting the outside world’s access to information from Iran have been lackadaisically implemented. It seems to me that if the regime wants to start enforcing them now, it will be an uphill battle.

In the meantime, contradictory images will flow in the face of official rhetoric, and it will be up to the rest of the world to decipher what’s really happening here. Welcome to the club.

The outcry for a re-count comes after the surprising landslide victory for incumbent Ahmadinejad last Friday. Supporters of Mousavi have called for, and been granted, an investigation into the election.

The whole thing sounds a little familar, doesn’t it?

While Bush didn’t exactly win by a landslide–or at all–in the 2000 election (or again in 2004), I think some of us can empathize with the people of Iran, Bush supporters or not.

When democracy fails, or we seriously begin to question it, what is our responsibility as citizens? Do we riot or protest in the streets of our capitol or do we submit our inquires to the democratic justice system?

What advice would you give the people of Iran? Should the results of public elections stand, even if they are undesirable? How do we live in a country and under a leader who we do not support?

Tell us what you think.

Here is a video for your inspiration and education.