#iranelection
Twitter as Banal or "140 characters is
a novel when you're being shot at."
Semantic Network Analysis conducted using Leximancer by
Steven McDermott
cssem@leeds.ac.uk
Hyperbole?
Leadbeater and Wong have compiled a series of hyperbolic
quotes from a variety of media sources at the time of the
protests:
• "Twitter has become a key information conduit as the
authorities in Tehran have cracked down on reporting by
traditional media." Chris Nuttall and Daniel Dombey, Financial
Times.
• "After disputed election results and massive street
demonstrations in Tehran, Iran, information is flooding out of
the country – on Twitter." Ashley Terry, Global News.
• "This is it. The big one." Clay Shirky of NYU.
• "We've been struck by the amount of video and eyewitness
testimony... The days when regimes can control the flow of
information are over." Jon Williams, BBC World News editor.
Banal?
• “Twitter, generally, and also during the Iran election crisis
(June 2009 and beyond), has been described as banal. The
question is, could the hundreds of thousands of tweets about
the Iran election crisis be made into a comprehensible
account of what has been happening on the ground as well as
online? "For the ppl of Iran - #iranelection RT," is such an
attempt. The project, first, is a stored collection of all the
tweets that have been tagged #iranelection from the first one
on 10 June up to 30 June 2009, some 650,000 in all.” (Richard
Rogers, March 7, 2010)
How Many Iranians Tweet?
• According to sources the number is 19,235 which is
equivalent to only 0.027 per cent of Iran’s population
(70,049,262 according to the 2006 census.) A survey carried
out by the The Centre for Public Opinion and the New
American Foundation found a third of Iranians have internet
access. That would mean Twitter users at the time of the
revolution made up 0.082 per cent of internet users in Iran.
How to Read the Semantic Maps
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In order to read the maps you need to read the following;
Using Leximancer, the maps of the themes cluster via concept co-occurrence information so
that concepts that sit next to each other have connections between them. To begin I
processed all texts from start to finish of the Leximancer analysis in the default settings mode
to create initial exploratory maps In the settings phase the Automatic Concept Detection is
on.
All maps generated were set to the following parameters; concept size 100%, theme size 30%
(default setting) and degree of rotation 0%. The colours of the circles, themes and concepts
are ‘heat mapped’, so the concepts that have the greater level of co-occurrence are closer to
the red end of the spectrum. The brightness of a concept correlates with its frequency and so
the brighter the concept the more often it appears in the text. The brightness of the links
that run between concepts relates to how often the two connected concepts co-occur within
the text. The proximity of two concepts indicates how often or not they appear in similar
conceptual contexts. The themes are the coloured circles around clusters of concepts. The
lines or pathways navigate the most likely path in conceptual space between concepts in
order to aid reading the map. The connectivity score reflects the degree, (equivalent to
degree score in network analysis) to which the theme is connected to the other concepts in
the map (Leximancer Manual, 2009).
And “yes the 11th of June 2009 is missing”.
2009-06-10
“People are singing the song of
liberty and an Iran free of
terrorism and dishonesty! Down
with dictator!”
“Looking for more
comments on this poll on
eve of : Should Iran be
allowed to have nuclear
weapons?”
“Police pushed the crowd to
sidewalks to open street for cars”
“CIA too out of touch
these days. But he does
serve as a useful enemy
for the US now USSR is
gone”
“Final tweet tonight: Prosecutor General
declares unequal airtime given to
candidates is against the law”
2009-06-12
“AFP: Iran began voting to
elect a new president in a tight
race between Mousavi and the
hardliner Ahmadinejad”
“Still hear bad
news about wide
frauds”
“Is it blocked? RT @shahrzadmo SMS
doesnt work in Iran. I assume it's bcs of the
huge amount of rumors they spread these
days.”
2009-06-13
“Clashes in Tehran after
thousands protest against
results; several injured and
arrested, Sky News reports.”
“After an afternoon of
protests... Mousavi on
his way to Interior
Ministry,”
“RT Iran is truly
revolutionary: nearly
50 million votes,
counted in only 7
hours? An nondigital?”
“ Commission
electorale coupe le
micro a Mousavi
pendant discours. Il
lançait un
avertissement contre
les fraudes. ”
2009-06-14
“US MEDIA IS
TREATING IRAN AS
A SIDE NOTE! THEY
R NOT SHOWING
ALL THE RIOT
FOOTAGE!”
“#IranElection RT : Two high ranked
clerics (Sane'i and Sobhani) are
protesting against the fraudulent
election. @IranRiggedElect”
“CNN HLN
you have got
to be dry
fucking me
right now! You
are talking
about
Carradine and
not the
#IranElection?
!?CNNFail”
“BBC video of Iran protests.
Secret police pushed away by
crowds when he ordered BBC
to stop filming.”
“Our crew were secretly
filming the secret agents,
police & the crowd. They
were arrested and their
tapes were taken.”
“American cable news shows how
much it sucks barely covering Iran
riots at all Revolution will not be
televised.”
“I wish I knew, are we required to
use twitter to learn details
#iranelection ? Also, has Obama
made any comments?”
2009-06-15
“confirmed
Tehran protest
from Enghelab
to Azadi
Monday, and a
national strike
on Tuesday.”
Al Arabiya: Three protesters
killed by police, Members of
Mousavi campaign staff
beaten.
“some other
voices from need more for
an overall
view. are
those proxies
working yet?”
“Twitter do your 90
minutes maintenance
when Iran is not in need
of Twitter!”
“Yes yes yes! It's not just
about the election. It's
about reversing the
revolution of 1979. It's
about freedom.”
“Please do not make proxies
public. You are helping Iran
Government to shut them
down!”
“Crowd turns on Iranian
secret police who tries to
stop BBC from filming”
2009-06-16
“Tomorrow if army come we
will greet them with roses.”
“Just in,Cyrusnews rumors; 16 IRCG
commanders arrested trying to persuade
elements in the Army to ..”
“there are rumors of
students killed in dorms,
from CNN can we get
any confirmation on that
from those in Tehran?”
“Change your
location on Twitter to
Iran to confuse the
gov. Today we are
all Iranians I did, Did
U?”
“Tehran is running
scared of the
uncontrollable forces of
freedom”
“ iReporter told
CNN that
PEOPLE HAVE
BEEN KILLED in
UNIVERSITY
dorms. On CNN!!
Please RT!”
"The Revolution will be
Tweeted!"
“he said Basij kill 15 ppl
directly and quickly from the
top of the root”
2009-06-17
"140 characters is a novel when you're
being shot at."
“Thinking about the students in jail tonight
because they protested”
“I think its best for
me to stop tryin to
"help" w the RT of
info b/c I'm not sure
if I'm helpin or
causing peeps to b
killed”
“RT from Tehran: My death is irrelevant.
Wht is important is that u do not forget
my words. We want freedom. i will die
4that”
“Man beaten to death by people in
black (i guess police?)”
“reliable hospital
sources say that at
least 8 killed in Azadi
sq Monday”
“RT **** All we Iranians
want from the free world is
to "keep your eyes on us"!”
“Australian ABC news asked
to leave Iran. Assuming the
same goes for all foreign news
orgs”
2009-06-18
“BE INFORMED: Fake
Iran election Tweeters
updated list! “
“RTfI: confirmed - the
wife of Saeed Rajaie,
a prominent Iranian
wartime martyr, has
been arrested while
praying in Qom”
“RT from Iran: Tomorrow march is in
memory of those killed by
Government - Mousavi will lead Sea
of Green”
“Redacting Confirmed No-Prayer.
Please delete your tweets about it.
Sorry guys, this is getting harder”
“Why Obama Should Leave
Iran's 'Red-State' Regime
Alone”
“The fallout will hopefully be a freer Iran, I
really can't see these leaders regaining any
control over the people”
“Convinced nascent Iran revolution fomented by
Israel2 recruit millions of spies to find their nukes”
2009-06-19
“16 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have been
arrested for trying to join "the people's movement“”
“RT most professors today talking about resigning if the
government continues to treat university like this”
“RT From Iran: hospital source severe shortage of blood supplies
across ALL Iran hospitals - please
donate blood”
“Proof that video has power.
Make effective ones!”
“Twitition: Google Earth
to update satellite
images of Tehran”
“RT Basij militia --declared Fri a
day for the Iranian nation to renew
its allegiance to Khamenei. CNN”
“Show support for democracy in
Iran add green overlay to your
Twitter avatar with 1-click”
“ATTENTION: Mousavi Accounts
Hacked; Protest STILL ON Friday. Again,
Protest STILL ON.”
“FYI American Students hold Moment
of Silence for Iranian Students “
2009-06-20
“confirmed - sms text messaging
is working again in Iran after 1
week of disconnecsion”
“It's irresponsible in
the extreme to
intimate that
martyrdom is in any
way acceptable right
now”
“RT european embassies are open for
injured, bring them there !!!”
“Reposting: List of Iranian embassies
around the world with contact infor “
“Now they have excuse to
say terrorists are oprating.
blast 2 wounded.”
“Continuous Gunfires hearing near Imam
Khomeini Hospital Near to Azadi St.”
“Gunshots fired in air, batons, tear gas
and water cannons. Let this be all there
is against them, no more “
“according to Iran State TV a blast
at shrine for Khomenie - Al
Jazeera suspiscious of
manipulation - 1 dead”
2009-06-21
“99% of tweets are from US backing a
BLOODY revolution. People are dying.
STOP destabilizing the Iranian state!”
“Her name is Neda Aghasoltan. Her heart is
not beating any more, but she is!! And she
will be forever.”
“was about time the UN started
to pay some attention to the postelection violence at Iran...”
RT: from Iran "I have one vote. I
gave it to Moussavi. I have one
life. I will give it for Freedom."
“I'm afraid if the government shuts down all
the internet access because of this videos
posted to CNN,AlJazeera,BBC Youtube.”
PLEASE RETWEET - Basij rounding
up injured protesters at Hospitals.
List of EMBASSIES taking in injured:
“Remedy for tear gas on skin: Wipe skin
exposed to chemical with a rag or gauze
canola oil. Follow immediately with alcohol.”
2009-06-22
2009-06-23
2009-06-24
2009-06-25
2009-06-26
2009-06-27
2009-06-28
2009-06-29
The Last Two Tweets to Appear in Farsi
on the 29th of June 2009
‫تجمع هزاران دانشجوى دانشگاه تهران با شعار مرگ بر‬
‫ مرگ بر خامنهاى‬،‫ديكتاتور‬
Accumulation of thousands of students of
Tehran University chanting "dictator,"
Death to Khamenei
‫دهها هزار تن از مردم تهران در خيابان شريعتى با‬
‫مأموران سركوبگر درگير شدند‬
Tens of thousands of people in Tehran
Shariati Street officers were involved in
suppression
Acknowledgements
For the ppl of Iran - #iranelection RT“ led by Richard Rogers.
Programming by Erik Borra, design by Marieke van Dijk and editorial
by Kimberley Spreeuwenberg and Esther Weltevrede. #iranelection
RT is online athttp://www.rettiwt.net/ (request login at
issuecrawler.net).
All data for this presentation has been sourced from #iranelection RT.
Contact for further information regarding this powerpoint –
cssem@leeds.ac.uk
Steven McDermott is a Doctoral Candidate and Research Assistant at
the Institute of Communications Studies at the University of Leeds.
Personal Website http://snacda.wordpress.com
Neda’s Tweets?
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MOUSAVI HAS ASK THE WORLD TO PARTICIPATE IN SEA OF GREEN IN ALL CAPITAL CITIES THIS SUNDAY - 2009-06-18T23:09:33Z
Mehdi Karoubi letter to National Security Council - shoraye negahban - 2009-06-19T16:20:37Z
Mousavi - Confirmed - calls for ALL the nation to stand on balconys TONIGHT and show support with 'Allah Akbar' - 2009-06-19T16:21:39Z
confirmed - 2 student activist arrested - Alirezah Khshbakht & Zahra Toheedi - 2009-06-19T16:22:04Z
The CRUCIAL Demonstration on Saturday 16:00 in Tehran and all around the world, please spread this message around - 2009-06-19T17:12:34Z
confirmed - IRIB.ir - HACKED - Dos Dos Dos Dos - RT RT RT - 2009-06-19T18:58:29Z
Tonight in cities across iran, gun shots fired into air try to scare ppl,ppl just respond with louder chants of "God is great“ - 2009-06-19T20:23:30Z
Breaking News: Text Messaging is back. Reporting at 2:5 am. The question is "Why?“- 2009-06-19T21:44:51Z
Mir Hossein Mousavi is safe and well - preparing for tomorrow - Sea of Green - 2009-06-19T22:49:40Z
RT Iran) PLEASE RT ALL UR Followers: STRATEGIC NONVIOLENT PROTEST MANUAL - 2009-06-20T09:08:08Z
from too many sources; rally NOT cancelled. rumors of cancellation are disinfo from govt - 2009-06-20T09:30:16Z
RT Iran: BBC Persia: the rally will take place from Meydane Enghelab to Meydan Azadi as planned - 2009-06-20T10:16:34Z
RT from Iran: Beware of ppl on twitter trying to confuse you. Mousavi is safe and rally is going ahead. - 2009-06-20T10:22:45Z
Protect against tear gas: avoid oils, lotions and detergents. Wash clothes, hair and skin beforehand in detergent-free soap - 2009-06-20T10:30:26Z
Reports: Mobile networks are down around Enghelab Sq. - 2009-06-20T10:31:11Z
RT: PLEASE TELL ALL PROTESTORS: CARRY QURAN: ISLAMIC LAW STATES ITS A SIN TO KILL ANYONE WITH A QURAN IN HAND - 2009-06-20T10:39:53Z
We going to Azadi Square now in Tehran. Pray for us! 2day is our INDEPENDENCE DAY from all tyranny! Thank you World! - 2009-06-20T11:04:42Z
RT vrtsflipflop: RT RT iranixRT: Confirmed: @giti456789 is Iranian govt agent... PLEASE RT!! - 2009-06-20T12:41:59Z
First reaction of many people to bomb "it was the Government” - 2009-06-20T13:38:48Z
RT shooting into unarmed crowd!! - 2009-06-20T13:53:12Z
RT SOLIDARITY! Set up a Tor bridge: - 2009-06-20T14:12:15Z
DONT SPLIT! RT From Iran: About 5000 Protesters pushing back Police, Bassij & Hezbollah to Azadi St - 2009-06-20T14:46:07Z
RT european embassies are open for injured, bring them there !!! - 2009-06-20T15:05:45Z
Continuous Gunfires hearing near Imam Khomeini Hospital Near to Azadi St. - 2009-06-20T16:09:50Z
Please spread: http://bit.ly/1EFn - 2009-06-20T16:39:12Z
Mousavi - confirmed - IF I AM ARRESTED THE NATION IS TO STRIKE INDEFINITELY - 2009-06-20T16:40:13Z
Site listing fake/possible govt twitter accounts. View and block - 2009-06-20T16:42:02Z
Call from Iran reports severe skin burns due to the unknown liquid dropped from helicopters. - 2009-06-20T19:05:12Z
TRANSLATE: #Neda Salehi buried today very quickly and under high security measures - 2009-06-21T19:46:08Z
RT A partial list of arrested journos/bloggers/politicians http://bit.ly/BHmc5 - 2009-06-22T06:21:32Z
Karroubi will publish an announcement later today - 2009-06-22T08:47:02Z
all roads and aley ways around Interior Ministry closed with concrete blocs and guards - 2009-06-22T12:11:30Z