Twitter is good for something

You've no doubt heard of the recent Iranian "election" and the subsequent uprising that followed. Hundreds of thousands of protesters are currently in the streets of Iran fighting for their voices to be heard after Ahmadinejad won what appeared to be a "landslide" victory against Mirhossein Mousavi. Regardless of whether or not the election of Mousavi would change our relations with Iran for the better, the United States and other countries around the world are watching as the fate of a nation is decided.

Unfortunately, Iran has been described as a "black hole" of information, as western journalists are no longer allowed in the country and most forms of communication, specifically on the Internet, have been barred from the public.

Except Twitter.

Yeah, they forgot about Twitter. So did I, actually, but it just keeps popping up in the news. It's everywhere.

Anyway, most of our information about the Iranian uprising (or I suppose it should be called unrest) is being collected through Twitter. The U.S. State Department even asked that maintenance on the social network be postponed until this mess is over

Compelling.

I don't know where all of this is going, or if Twitter will ultimately prove to be a useful tool in the spread and growth of democracy (and, I guess, journalism), but in times like these you take what you can get.