The Iran Election and Social Media: The New News Revolution
Analysis by Emily Luger, Nielsen Online
The Iranian election is yet another watershed moment in the ongoing evolution of news and media, further blurring the lines between being, reporting, and following the story. In the two weeks since the controversy and conflict surrounding the election, a number of insights have emerged about how the Internet and social media continue to be a transforming force for the News industry. Initial Nielsen analysis of search results provides some conclusions, while others areas beg additional probing.
Findings from an Internet snapshot from June 18, 2009:
- CNN rarely shows up in the top five search results for select Iran Election terms, mirroring criticism from consumers that the global news network’s coverage of the Iran Election was lacking (#CNNFail).
- Wikipedia emerges within the top two search results for 4/5 of the leading topics.
- At least one social media source emerges within the top 10 search results for every term. In most cases, the social media sites emerge directly above a traditional, major news source, such as WSJ.com.
| Google Search Results: Est. 2:30 PM Thursday, June 18, 2009 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Iran | Iran Protest | Iran Election |
Moussavi | Ahmadinejad |
| 1 | Wikipedia | MSNBC | Wikipedia | Wikipedia | WSJ |
| 2 | BBC | MSNBC | Yahoo | Earthtimes.org | Wikipedia |
| 3 | Boston.com | Yahoo | Boston.com | CNN | Ahmadinejad.ir |
| 4 | YahooNews | AlJezeera | MSNBC | Presstv.ir | YouTube |
| 5 | InfoPlease | GlobalVoices | CBS | Ft.com | Yahoo |
| 6 | IranDaily | WashingtonTimes | Presstv.ir | Economist.com/blogs | Boing Boing |
| 7 | Tehran.edu | AFP Google Article | NY Times | Middleeast.about.com | Politico.com |
| 8 | Memory.loc.gov | NY Times | BBC | Gsd.harvard | CNN |
| 9 | Books.Google.com | Riehlworldview.com | HuffingtonPost | Personaldemocracy | Time.com |
| 10 | Guardian | Rightwingnews.com | YouTube | Washingtonindependent | Google Video |
| 11 | Sdnn.com | WSJ | Propeller.com | Aljezeera | |
| 12 | BBC | SFGate | NY Times | Iranian.ws | |
| 13 | Commentary | CNN | Washington Post | ||
| 14 | iran.whyweprotest.net | Guardian.co.uk | Reuters | ||
| 15 | Washington Post | Mashable | Globalsecurity.org | ||
| 16 | Theage.com.au | Foxnews | MSNBC | ||
| 17 | Euronews.net | Stopahmadinejad | |||











