When the US state department encouraged Twitter to hold back on system updates so Iranians could continue tweeting about their last election, anti-authoritarian activists worldwide hailed the microblogging platform as the world’s new kingmaker. These accolades were a bit premature though. The masses might have figured out Twitter faster than the government, but repressive governments are quick learners when confronted with new media. Research has shown that nationalists and fascists from a variety of ideologies are among the most active users of blogs and social media. Evgeny Morozov, Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown University’s E.A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, recently stated that new media “will power all political forces, not just the forces we like.” Though it might be a double edged sword, the social web illuminates both sides of the story better than traditional outlets by showing personal sentiment instead of broad situations.
More on how Web 2.0 is affecting world politics at ABC News
