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Twitter and Peace Prize: It seems to me that all Twitter did was collect comments from individuals and post them to a univeral bulletin board. A function that twitter does for a profit - not to encourage social change.

Yes, that unity may have given individuals the courage to tweet, but simply tweeting is as effective as talking into the wind. It almost supports inaction because it is easy to tweet and very often those tweeting will do so, thinking they have done enough (something is better than nothing), rather than get up and hold a sign or shout out loud. It is those actions and others like them that really effect change.

If we want to debate that the international community responded to the abundance of tweets, or the sensationalism of those tweets, and that is what brought change, that might be something to argue, but it can't be said that twitter did anything unusual or extraordinary to help with that process. Twitter was only doing what it was designed to do.

I read elsewhere that Iranian videos about the protests were posted on YouTube. Should we nominate YouTube also? What about cameras? Cameras were used extensively during the Vietnam War and Americans saw the horrors of war like never before. What about video cameras? Now that we can take pictures and videos with our cell phones, should those tools be nominated when imagery is used to bring international awareness to issues like genocide?

Earlier comments compared twitter to other 'platforms' like Climate Change and Atomic Energy, but those 'platforms' were not tools like a camera or a computer that have multiple purposes - they were collaborative, complex organizations driven by people hoping to affect world change.

The creators of twitter came up with this tool to turn a profit and are fortunate to have become successful in that endeavor. To suggest that the effect of a tool like twitter is comparable to the work of individuals like Mother Theresa and Martin Luthor King, Jr. diminishes the value and intention of the of the prize and to enter twitter into the running would be an insult to those who have perservered and been recognized for moral and ethical change.

A 'Platform Peace Prize' has a nice ring to it. Stand up and be counted tweepers. LOL

That is ridiculous. I really and truly hope that this is some sort of a joke.

What the hell is wrong with people in this day and age?

The Nobel Peace prize should be reserved for the extraordinary.

Just how does Tweeter have anything to do with peace? On the contrary it may have instigated more violence by revolting or even encouraging different groups to commit further crimes.
If the intent of the article was to create (good or bad buzz) a reaction, you have succeeded.
Cheers.
Mike

I'm pretty sure the nomination was to generate buzz, RT's, and Digg's because it really makes no sense to nominate a platform and not it's creators. Along different lines, it would make no sense to nominate Twitter in this case - after all, hasn't Google helped more people find and share information on the Iran elections than Twitter? Why isn't Google nominated? Or the Internet itself? Tim-Berners Lee should be awarded far earlier than Twitter ever should (discussed in depth at http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/once-a-knight-is...).

Twitter is a platform, dependent on many other platforms... It's just a form of communication that hit that perfect blend of critical mass and network effects sooner than other offerings. Although it's awesome and really fun/effective, it's definitely not worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Is there anything to celebrate???

Wow, Twitter jealousy, dude?

1- “Most Iranians couldn’t name Jack Dorsey” Hmmm…could most victims of landmines name the 1997 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize? It was…wait for it…Jody Williams. Betting more people have heard of Jack then Jody.

2- “Twitter is a platform…To me that’s like nominating McDonald’s french fries for a pulitzer because so many writers enjoy them.” Thanks, french fry eating genius. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was a platform – and Al Gore accepted the prize. In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency was the platform – and Mohamed ElBaradei accepted the prize. In 2001, the United Nations was the platform – and Kofi Annan accepted. And…I repeat myself here…BUT in 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines was the platform – and the aforementioned Jody Williams (the one who is less known than Jack) accepted.

3- “Does anybody really think Twitter is going to bring peace and democracy to the Middle East?” I don’t know, but 15 years ago the award went to Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin for Middle East peace. They didn’t do it. Do you want to demand their money back and strip away their medals?

Get rid of your bile, put down the fries, and read a book once in awhile. Might help.

Nah - the prize has got to go to all the people who were smart enought, and brave enough in Iran to use Twitter. Maybe Twitter still deserves an honourable mention though!

Richard Tuffin
Canberra Australia

Very funny & well said, Mike :)
This reminds me with something from the last century: Peter Sellers', The Party when he used to say "Burdi Num-Num" :P

I am not a veteran in this industry but i am closely watching how the internet is transforming itself. The role of new age News sites( that is what i call Social media sites) has been increasing immensely in the recent past. The way twitter is gaining popularity, i am sure that it is soon going to create records . Twitter has undoubtedly played a significant role during Iran election and very recent China unrest.

Nobody would call the Reformation the "book revolution" just because of the affect that the printing press had on European society at the time.

sure, why not. point is, twitter ist nothing new or revolutionary - as opposed to books at that time.

Yeah, good article.

It's not just an insult to the those that did the tweeting, but to those that actually died.

I felt quite angry towards the media coverage at the time who were actually calling events in Iran the "Twitter revolution"

Twitter is just a tool.

Nobody would call the Reformation the "book revolution" just because of the affect that the printing press had on European society at the time.