Inside the web ecology of the Iran Election Protests

1. July 2009
Green Wave Briefs
A human look inside the Web Ecology of the 2009 Iran Election Protests
…Because people make change possible
The following report briefs on what is distributed, but also acted on, in the words of
multiply known as the “Where is My Howard Rheingold, “first-hand reports,
Vote,” “Sea of Green,” “Green Wave” shocking images and videos that got out to
and the “Neda” movement, are a the world in near real-time via Twitter,
preliminary analysis of what is perhaps, Facebook, and YouTube.” As Rheingold
one the largest, densest and most accurately suggests, the uniquely constituted
communicatively prolific distributed smart and voluminous stream of information
mobs in human history. The purpose of sharing and related social action related
the analysis provided is to shed light on to Iran’s election aftermath is, an “historical
exactly how and why people not only precedent."
Methods Anonymity of Subjects Green Wave Brief No. 1
Methods and data sources used A statement of research subject Continued on
Protest by Proxy: Inside an
to study the communication rights and observed protocols. Organic Tactical Response of
the Green Wave…
Page 2 Page 2 Page 3

2. Methods
In order to trace, in a whole systems manner, the communication
ecology of the Green Wave, multiple types of information and
communication platforms were studied. By type these are:
Primary social sharing sites: Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, Flickr, and YouTube.
Secondary application sources: TweetDeck, TweetGrid, Twazzup, Twhirl,
Seeismic Desktop, FriendFeed (aggregator), UberTweet, Tweetie,
Twitpic, HootSuite, Visible Tweets, and TwitterFox.
Anonymity of Subjects
Satellite broadcast news networks: BBC, CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, Al
Social scientists are beholden Jazeera.
to a code of ethics and what
follows copiously upholds the
protocols of sociology and Online newspapers and magazines: Washington Post, Huffington Post, The
anthropology. All of the raw Atlantic, Time, The New York Times, The UK Guardian, Le Monde,
data gathered here is entirely and the English edition of Al-Ahram.
public, and at the time that it
was posted in the digiverse, News Feeds: AP, Reuters, and SkyGrid.
could be captured by anyone
with an Internet connection. Independent Media Sites: Tehran Bureau, YekIran, Mashable,
Nonetheless, anonymity has AlternativePress, Anonymous Iran, Revolutionary Road.
been accorded to all of the
users whose actions and Cumulatively, between June13th and July 3rd, data was gathered from
practices are documented 217 unique web sites and content analysis was conducted on 57 of
here. Some pseudonyms given them. Approximately 71 hours were spent participating in and
to users may be recognizable following discursive streams – or communications between people –
to those who’ve been generated in the aftermath of the Iranian elections. Another 43 hours
immersed in the #iranelection were logged following three different types of individual user feeds
conversation online. Further, found on Twitter and Facebook (people streaming from inside Iran,
all of the Twitter, YT, and Iranians streaming outside of Iran, and non-Iranians streaming outside
FaceBook feeds, the personal of Iran). Over 3,117 screen shots were captured and provided a source
yet public blog sites, and the of documentation essential for the reflective content analysis of
open websites that this communication flows that these reports required.
analysis is based on are
available to anyone. Despite This research covers the globalized communication ecology of the
this, we believe that without Green Wave. It does not cover the local communication ecology that is
explicit releases and an playing out within Iran. One exceedingly important distinction between
approved IRB, it would be the global and the Iran based local ecologies of the Green Wave is the
both unethical and misguided role of cell phones. While hard data on the number of SMSs the first
to publish in one place, what days, let alone the number of photos and videos taken with cells is hard
would effectively constitute a to come by, it is evident that the front line tool on the ground for mass
comprehensive name index of information management was cellphones. Perhaps in the months ahead
key actors in the Green people with such data will offer insights into the on the ground
Wave/ Where is My Vote/ technology tools used to support coordinated action.
movement.
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

3. Green Wave Brief No. 1
Organic Tactical Offensives & Responses
In the first hours of demonstration, while What happened on June 13th, the eruption of
people inside of Iran were creating publicly voiced dissent, may have been the
spontaneous and dense protests, the Iranian fruition of something many had long hoped
government launched already emplaced for, but it was nonetheless decidedly
tactical responses. The government, like any unexpected. When the wave of protest
nation-state with a treasury, accessed existing reached critical mass nearing nightfall,
procedures for militarized, theocratic, and locales throughout Iran found their streets lit
technologic responses. Within hours of the up with burning motorcycles and flares; as
first post-election announcement protests, the epic sounds of chanting chains washed
swarms of police were sent to manage street over rooftops and balconies. That first nite,
demonstrators while behind closed doors there was no full-fledged “Where Is My
officials gathered at tables to make key Vote Movement” and there certainly was no
decisions. The coordination of a response official movement headquarters. Though
effort among protestors was starkly less many turned to Mousavi for the party’s
robust in terms of their capabilities for official position on the results, the need to
centralized spitfire decision-making and respond across party affiliation was evident
subsequent mobilization of assets. from the start - as was the diverse
constitution
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

4. of the Iranian crowds that ultimately stood up dissenters, provoked a well spring of new
for civil liberties in their country. Like all supporters willing and ready to give their time
spontaneous smart mobs facing down and skills to advance the cause of Iranian
established power structures, participants in democracy. The “issue” global watchers got
the Iran election protests had to identify assets familiar with on the afternoon of the 13th was
and establish ad-hoc procedures in the fair and transparent elections. The smart mob’s
moment. The strategies and procedures that first global participants were, thus largely
emerged to carry out protests and ignite a attached to the cause of Iranian democracy
global movement are Organic Tactical specific to voting rights. When news spread
Offensives & Responses. The capacity of smart globally that the Iranian government had begun
mobs to generate and execute Organic Tactical denying its citizens access to tech’d out
Offensives & Responses relies on three key communication flows to shut down dissent, the
features: a crowd willing to receive and act on issue of censorship and questions of civil
information, technology adoptions and liberties were put into play. Waves of new
adaptations, and individuals able to take on globally based supporters joined what was
exceptional responsibilities. variously being called the “Green Wave” and
the “Sea of Green” movement, specifically to
The use of web proxies to keep communication support Iranians’ access to communication
flowing is one example of an Organic Tactical flows. While many members of the crowd that
Response used by protesters. We will use the arrived out of concern for civil liberties were
Protest by Proxy example to illustrate some sympathetic to the egregious violation of
features of how the Green Wave smart mob “stolen elections” it was the everyday (rather
functioned and what its core values are. than event/election based) right to free speech
that prompted this contingent of the smart mob
into action. The Iranian government’s efforts to
Shutting down phone service in certain areas
quell communication resulted in inspiring
and stepping up Internet filters was a tactic
legions of technology savvy people to
used by the Iranian government from the first
contribute their abilities to countering the
afternoon. The move to shut off the voice of
government’s actions against transparent
Iranians and silence information about events
democracy. As waves of people with web
on the ground, far from quieting
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

5. based skill sets joined the cause, Initially, people were urged in the most
technology indebted tactics like the use direct terms to set up proxies and provide
of web proxies for getting around the the information to Iranians. The
Iranian government’s censorship simplicity of the statement worked well
measures were quickly put in place and for dissemination via twitter’s 140
circulated widely to the Green Wave’s character limits, but the problems with
distributed smart mob participants. posting proxies publicly became rapidly
apparent. New Instructional tweets linked
to proxy station pages with directions for
Individuals willing to take on
extraordinary responsibilities turned securely exchanging proxy addresses were
being sent around. Meanwhile older
their home pages into proxy information
stations. The how tos and what to dos on tweets calling urgently for new proxies to
be posted were still circulating. This
these proxy station pages were utilized
prompted a stream of Directive tweets
by people, who in many instances had
updating users to not publicly post
never set up a web proxy before. Others
addresses. When already publicly posted
who already knew how to set up proxies
proxies began to be shut down or
used the proxy stations as central
compromised another batch of tweets
locations to safely input new proxy
began circulating this time directing
addresses by the dozens on a daily basis.
Iranians not to use publicly posted
While these actions were happening,
addresses.
information links on proxies and the
need to get them set up was Tweeted
over and over again throughout the days.
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

6. how the tactic was carried out and
By the end of the first week of protests, consider some of the behaviours and
the smart mob’s Organic Tactical shared values that make Organic
Response measures had put into place a Tactical Responses possible in dynamic
streamlined system employing twitter, globally distributed smart mobs.
twitter applications, individual
homepages, web proxy software, and Re-circuiting Content Expectations
multi-sited servers.
Tactical ownership of publicly available
These pieces were used in concert to messages circulating in a distributed
consistently alert people globally about smart mob are indicative of a cogent
the need for proxies and to directly link “sticky” mob with high functionality and
Iranian users to the supporter generated therefore an expansive capacity for
proxies. The functional structure of the action. In a vibrant actionable smart
Protest by Proxy tactic has broad and mob’s communication ecology, what
somewhat stunning implications. Here you need to know and what you ought
we’ll look at briefly at specific aspects of to be doing bear frequent repeating.
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

7. In traditional mass media the information statements of homage in the form of
attached to repetition (the kind of content that photoware slideshows, edited QuickTime
gets repeated) is normatively applied to the movies and auto play power points which rely
sensational, the dramatic, and the provocative. not on sensationalism so much as the humble
In a smart mob’s organic (user generated) life of a woman juxtaposed against the unjust
media stream, sensationalisms and and undeniably unnecessary murder that
provocations need constant refreshing. The ended her life. Though Neda has by no means
items that get repeated over sustained periods been forgotten, she has been replaced in the
in a smart mob’s mediatised sphere (or Green Wave’s headline news feed.
discursive web), are often the most matter of
fact, even at times mundane, items of As of this writing, headline news within the
information. Green Wave is focused on updates relating the
conditions in various prisons, the reality of
In the first days after the publicly captured prisoner executions, and the unknowable for
globally witnessed death by shooting of Neda now, implications of clerical maneuverings
Soltan on June 20th, the event, with its horrific and power plays said to be occurring at
and sensationally inhumane moments, was meetings in Qom. Amidst these headline
distributed massively and intensively in updates the stream of content on Proxy by
traditional and web 8.0 media spheres around Protest has steadily continued.
the world. During those days in which On July 6, 2009, mainstream media audiences
information on Neda proliferated, another around the world were collectively sighing,
stream of older content continued circulating grumbling and outright complaining about the
in the Green Wave. This other stream was the repetitive nature of Michael Jackson “news
tactic based flow of content related to setting updates” still gobbling up airtime a week after
up and distributing proxies for use by people in the King of Pop’s unexpected death. At the
Iran. Less than a week out from the terrible same time on July 6, 2009, the Green Wave’s
moment of Neda Soltan’s death, mainstream audience members were going on
global media had largely moved on from the approximately three weeks of regularly seeing
story. While in the still prolific media web of “Pls RT: Proxies needed,” “ppl in Iran NEED
Iran’s election aftermath and its expansive Tor info 2 access internet safely,” and “Donate
distributed smart mob, references to Neda have bandwidth. #iranelection PLS RT.” It is
not disappeared they have lessened and they’ve
altered character. To a degree those prolific
“Horrible/Terrible/Shocking” links to the raw
event of her death so voluminous in the
beginning, have been superseded by quieter
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

8. definitely true that people who use the Groups organized around business,
#iranelection hashtag in manners deemed government, and education, have in common
inappropriate are roundly criticized by participant pools whose members have agreed
conversants and there is also a great deal of to a form of social contract. That peculiar
public debate on the kinds of information and contract, supposes a kind of connectivity and
response avenues that should be paid attention consequently the fundamental feature of how
to. But there has never once been a publicly such groups understand themselves is thus as
posted response comment or tweet, to the “already” connected. The function of these
effect of “enough with proxies already? Can I kinds of groups is in part, to manage the
get some new news?” This is because, in a outcome of an already established or taken for
smart mob news is not judged based solely on granted connectedness (which yet comes with a
its sensationalism or its date; news is judged set of tacit and explicit agreements on rules of
based on its capacity to further the purposes of behaviour as well as clear, sometimes magnum
the collective. opus like explanations of expected modes of
action to be taken over a long duration by the
We might think of the repeatable information socially contracted participants). By contrast, a
items that stream through the discursive web distributed smart mob like the Green Wave,
of a distributed smart mob as a kind of comes into being through an urgent or flash
omnipresent ticker like the ones found in point decision to forge connections that don’t
Times square or on the bottom television already exist
screens.
The participant pool signs up with an awareness
In the regularly scheduled programming world that rather than being taken for granted,
of mainstream media, the ticker serves as the proliferating connectivity between participants,
instant update space while the main screen is is a core part of the collectivitys’ fundamental
the space of repeats. In the organically and function. In other words the production that a
therefore often spontaneously coalescing distributed smart mob is concerned with is not
limited as it is in existing institutional forms to
sphere of the smart mob there is no regularly
scheduled programming – which is to say the material production. This mass consciousness
primary news space is taken up by “instant capable of generating action on local and global
updates.” Rather than the latest news, the levels, assumes that part of its reason for
“ticker” content provides mobbers with existence and consequently one of its primary
repeated news specifically intended to act as a production modes, is the initiation, expansion
consistent source of actionable information. and reproducibility of people based connections.
From its very inception, the smart mob is Given that a successful, globally distributed, and
aware of itself as a spread out organism with dense smart mob will necessarily have new
many parts. Whether the distance is between participants constantly joining, it is clear why
persons in a city or people between nations, it’s essential that a healthy portion of the
the mob collective recognizes a. its communication stream offers up repetitive
fundamental feature of potential disconnection information. The purpose of the tickering stream
and b. its essential function of engendering
connectivity.
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

9. is not to draw in new participants (in the way indicative of what is in many respects a mildly
that traditional media uses sensationalized unfathomable genius evident in the operating
repeats of Updates to lure viewers and spike structure of a healthy smart mob’s
their ratings)– that’s what the primary and communication ecology. In everyday life, most
instantaneous updates are for. of the warnings that we need in order to
function have been told to us many times, but
The ticker, or repeat stream is a vital part of they are not necessarily repeated multiple times
the distributed smart mob’s communication a day everyday. “Do not Run this Red Light,”
ecology. It serves to inform people on how to for example, might appear on the landscape in
participate and provides people with the form of a warning about fines posted on a
immediate ways to do just that – participate government sponsored sign. But no one’s
via action. The key here is that spectatorship is sending around sms’s to their social network
not this audience’s modus operandi –Vive Ut with repetitive directives like “Do Not Run Red
Vivus, however is. Lights. Pls RT.” If we compare the growth of
consciousness of a smart mob for a moment to
Directives: “Do Not RT or Use Proxies the development of consciousness in an
individual, the use of daily repetitive warning
posted on Twitter.” This directive began
information should be normatively identified
circulating in mid-June and as of early July is with early to mid learning stages. As toddlers,
still in daily circulation on #iranelection micro children, adolescents, and young adults are
blogs feeding in real time. The directive enculturated or “learned” in the demands and
informational never gets stale, because new dangers of their particular society, they go
participants are entering the discussion through age specific periods of receiving
everyday and because older information on warning directives: “Don’t put that in your
publicly posting proxies is still floating around. mouth,” “Don’t touch that, it’s
Repeated throughout any given day (so far) in {hot/dangerous/breakable/off-limits}.”
the #iranelection’s content stream, the
directive “Do Not Use” reinforces the rules of
In the smart mob’s development, the content of
engagement. It publicly clarifies for all existing
repetitive directions is not age specific, but
and incoming participants how to take
effective action by defining what not to do. context specific. The Green Wave’s equivalent
to “That’s fire! Don’t touch,” which was and is
What needs to be done – generating proxies –
“Do not post proxies publicly it’s dangerous” is
is refined into a procedure with operating
indicative of how a healthy distributed smart
rules. People are directed in part, by being
given clear constraints on action: Don’t just set mob acts on an awareness that a portion of its
up a proxy and throw it into virtual domains with participant pool is necessarily always in the
no anonymity and all too much traceability. early stages of membership and therefore new to
learning the rules of engagement.
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Leftover and Long-term warnings are
Green Wave Briefs No. I

10. In the Green Wave’s discursive web, the use beginning and return everyday while others
of warnings repeated over extended durations will float in and out of the classroom at will
exemplifies a communication ecology in whenever their interest is re-piqued. In her
which there is an ongoing need in the methods of instruction, the teacher of this
dispersed crowd, to a. prevent and/or handle randomly populated classroom has to give
misinformation about actions and strategic every student space and time to participate in
tactics and b. attend the introductory the group’s productions, which in the
education of new comers on discouraged classroom are intellectual. We might also
and/or dangerous modes of action. These apply this example of an almost hobo like pool
survival requirements are deftly managed of participants to the functioning of a factory.
through decentralized, but repetitive How would such an enterprise ever manage to
information flows. produce anything in any consistent manner?
Yet in the context of a distributed smart mob,
Instructions are another kind of omnipresent it is precisely the intense influx of a shifting
‘tickering’ information in the Green Wave’s participant pool that signals their viability.
communication ecology. Instructional
information is again a type of content that is Returning to the case of proxies, instructional
by no means sensational and is by all means links on “how to” set them up and how to
mundane in the way that all “how to” and securely give people access to the addresses
“what to do” lists have an aura of mundaneity. are now a common part of everyday content
As in Directionals like warnings, instructional in the Green Wave’s web ecology. Though
repeat items are a consequence of the the purpose of these repeatedly distributed
distributed smart mob’s inherent Instructions remains unchanged, the specific
understanding of itself as an organism that protocols have evolved. Changes in the
must constantly forge new points of social protocols for generating and providing proxies
connectivity in order to survive and thrive. To in the short first three weeks of Iran’s election
give a better sense of how this is critically aftermath, pose one of the clearest possible
different from institutional contexts, imagine a examples of the degree to which smart mobs
school in which a teacher has to assume that are necessarily sentient organisms not just
everyday some members of her class will leave capable of learning, but capable of rapid
and new participants will arrive. Some adaptive learning. 10
students will have been there from the
Green Wave Briefs No. I

11. Implications of Organic Tactical Offensives & Responses
At the macro level we might ask; What on their blog site to news updates on the
are the implications for the future role of Iran election aftermath, simply slip back
distributed smart mobs in geo-political after a few week or months to taking in
power struggles if the hyper evolution of streams of mainstream media each day
their organic consciousness when activated that are not linked to calls or instructional
specifically for direct political action, has means for taking any form of action?
shown itself capable of spontaneously and History would seem to suggest that the
craftily developing communicative habits answer is yes. People called into
and tactical protocols with a speed and extraordinary action and therefore thrown
aptitude that easily surpasses the into the heady disequilibrium of acquiring
bureaucratic constraints imposed on the new practices, tend to reintegrate
tactical adaptivity of militarized states? themselves into the emplaced norms of
On the micro or individual level, we practice when the event (war, disaster,
etc.) is over. Still, there is a difference in
might ask more immediately; Do the habits
that the tools and implements used in
that mobbers employ to maintain
today’s extraordinary events are no longer
participation in the organic wired mass
limited to extraordinary status themselves.
transcend the organism’s life cycle? In a
The catalyst for change (or differentially
distributed smart mob whose membership
realized outcomes), as it always is when it
reaches the millions as the Green Wave’s
comes to human evolution, is marked by
has so far, what are the individuals’ spillover
the nature of the tools we are using.
effects? What are the kinds of everyday
alterations in consciousness and in ‘habitual’ The primary tools of the distributed
practices incurred by the experience of smart mob are embedded in everyday life in
acting and learning in a collective whose a way that they have never been for any
production of “everyday” community is an form of crowd before in human history.
invigorated engagement with decentralized, What then are the broader socio-cultural
adaptive, hyper-flexible, and targeted action? transformations afoot when millions of
Does the man in Iowa or the woman in people have a spontaneous encounter in
New Zealand, who just last week learned which exerting various amounts of interest
how to set up a proxy server or gifted space and energy on micro levels produces,
before our very eyes, macro-global effects?
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Green Wave Briefs No. I

12. Green Wave Briefs are researched & prepared by Dr. Bahíyyih Maroon. Each brief is
covered by a Creative Commons License. Works may be cited and copied with
appropriate reference to authorship.