Iran: Social revolution

Iran’s social and culture conservatism has for long served as grist to the popular mill of western media consumption. Books and Hollywood blockbusters, like ‘Argo’ and ‘Not Without My Daughter’ have depicted the country’s social and cultural tapestry in great detail but unfortunately most of it has helped excite only xenophobic paranoia and terrorist labels. Thanks to such extensive portrayal, most of which is exaggerated, the world at large has come to view Iran as a country still tethered to social and religious mores that look medieval and out of sync with today’s cultural codes. Repeated flogging of Iran’s society by the Western media as ultraconservative and fanatically religious has over time created negative stereotypes about the country and its people, which have been demonized by a Western media and polity through the use of carefully constructed artifacts and identities.

As such it is difficult for many in the West to see beyond these artificial constructs perpetrated by the media and popular culture. For decades, the Western media has focused on stories and images reflecting Iran's most extremist elements while ignoring the majority of Iranian Muslims who devote themselves to family and friends, spend their time playing volleyball, visiting the beaches or mountains, celebrating holidays, watching TV and going to the movies, or sitting in restaurants and cafes, talking or reading. Though the old casts of Iranian identity are still perpetuated, the West is discovering that the reality about Iran is much richer and more complex than its own crude constructs.

The growing popularity of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and the spread of Internet in Iran is doing much to dismantle this façade. Iran's youth are taking to the social media and embracing the Internet in large numbers, which is helping to redefine the country's perceptions in the eyes of the West. Of all the countries in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, Iran is the nation with the greatest number of bloggers and an accelerating number of Internet users. Iranian society has become more politicized by adopting Internet-based technology as the primary instrument of dissent. There are tens of thousands of bloggers, which include those inside and outside Iran. More than one-third of the Iranian population, or 28 million people, used the Internet in 2009 – compared with less than 1 million in the year 2000, according to reports issued by the International Telecommunications Union.

The emergence of widespread Internet access and use in Iran is empowering a newer generation of Iranians who are determined to end the regime’s monopoly on the media and create more democracy in communication. The growing number of converts to social media and Internet are taking the lead in ongoing discussions about Iranian politics, the separation of religion and state in Iran and current affairs in the world. As a result of these changes the blogosphere in Iran is abuzz with debate and discussion even though the country’s regime is turning increasingly intolerant of cyber freedom. The state’s move to throttle Internet activity is prompting growing numbers of Iranians to post blogs calling for an end to theocratic rule and eulogising the virtues of democracy. As online activists continue to gain strength, the world is now coming round to view Iran and its people in a new light that goes beyond the prism of past prejudices.