Therein lies the uneasy truth: In a major international crisis, one of the prime channels of communication and news for individuals, media outlets, and governments alike is a 2-year-old start-up in San Francisco with 50 employees, no discernible business model, a history of technical instability, and a misinformation-related lawsuit on the table. This is a problem.”

— Caroline McCarthy, CNET: With Iran crisis, Twitter’s youth is over (via mikehudack)

While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

Clay Shirky says that the dissemination of news events via social media has heightened the role of emotion. The instantaneous manner with which users of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are inclined to pick up, modify, and share messages favors excitement over objectivity.

15 June 2009

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To an intuitive person, the steady stream of emotional input that Twitter delivers is appealing and energising. To an intuitive and introverted person, the mass download of emotional introspection is not only appealing, it is deeply comforting and reassuring. It provides a shared experience and a connection that introverted and intuitive people do not often get a chance to enjoy. And it’s there all the time, whenever you want to tap in.

- Danu Poyner

Enabling quality conversation (ranked on a ten point scale) with my consumers? Check. Possessing pass-along value that inspires influencers to inspire others about my core brand message, directly relatable to product sales? Check. The fundamental elements of virality, guaranteed to spread like wildfire through cyberspace? Check. Keep full control of my brand? Double-check.

- Tania Yuki / comscore