Editorials
#TwitterKurds: A Year has Passed
By Meer Ako Ali
From Sulaimany, Iraq
May 25, 2012 marked the first anniversary of “#TwitterKurds,” which is the hashtag used prominently by tweeple who are Kurdish or who support the Kurdish cause. For the occasion numerous Kurdish and Kurdish-supporting tweeple participated in a mass tweeting campaign of the hastags “#FreeKurdistan” and “#Freedom4Kurdistan” and succeeded in making them trend worldwide.
Let us get some Twitter terminology straight. First things first, Twitter is a micro-blogging service in which users “tweet” (or write) brief posts composed of 140 characters or less called “tweets” on their account. Twitter users, called “tweeple,” use the website to share their ideas, whether political, social, religious, or of any sort, and to interact and have mini arguments with other users. It is also common for organizations, groups, and companies to make use of Twitter to promote themselves.
By “following” each other, tweeple are able to view each other’s tweets in their newsfeeds. The hashtag (or the “#” symbol) is used to highlight the important parts of a tweet. They are useful for categorizing tweets and for making tweet searches easier. When a certain hashtag tips and is being tweeted rapidly by a large number of tweeple, Twitter lists it as a “trend” worldwide or in a particular country depending on the geography of the tweeters. Twitter itself has trended worldwide and is now being used by users to “find out what’s happening, right now, with the people and organizations [they] care about,” as stated on the website’s homepage.
Twitter has become a popular platform of exchange for Kurds.Kurds from the four parts of Kurdistan and in diaspora have been making use of this micro-blogging website to achieve what the geographic borders are denying them: communication. Through tweets Kurds who would otherwise not meet share their experiences, ideas, opportunities, and projects and discuss contemporary aspects and issues of Kurdistan. They also cooperate in introducing Kurdish culture to other tweeple.
On May 25, 2011 Kurdish tweeple introduced the “#TwitterKurds” hashtag to categorize the tweets that are related to Kurds or Kurdistan. In celebration of the first anniversary of the hashtag, a mass tweeting of the hashtags “#FreeKurdistan” and “#Freedom4Kurdistan” was organized. Both hashtags made it on Twitter’s list of “Worldwide Trends” thanks to a large number of tweeters all around the world. The mass tweeting was given more incentive after participants heard of LeylaZana’s new 10-¬year prison sentence under false “terrorism” charges.
The mass tweeting campaign and the successful trending of the hashtag strengthened the sense of identity within the Kurdish tweeple and intensified their passion for peaceful outreach through cyberspace. Every tweet posted was a drop in the ocean whose waves smashed into the cliffs of silence and injunction.
If you are feeling passionate about connecting and sharing with Kurds around the world, I recommend that you sign up for Twitter (if you haven’t already) and follow the conversations through the “#TwitterKurds” hashtag. Participate in this exciting web movement. Add to the ocean, drop by drop.
#TwitterKurds: A Year has Passed
By Meer Ako Ali
From Sulaimany, Iraq
May 25, 2012 marked the first anniversary of “#TwitterKurds,” which is the hashtag used prominently by tweeple who are Kurdish or who support the Kurdish cause. For the occasion numerous Kurdish and Kurdish-supporting tweeple participated in a mass tweeting campaign of the hastags “#FreeKurdistan” and “#Freedom4Kurdistan” and succeeded in making them trend worldwide.
Let us get some Twitter terminology straight. First things first, Twitter is a micro-blogging service in which users “tweet” (or write) brief posts composed of 140 characters or less called “tweets” on their account. Twitter users, called “tweeple,” use the website to share their ideas, whether political, social, religious, or of any sort, and to interact and have mini arguments with other users. It is also common for organizations, groups, and companies to make use of Twitter to promote themselves.
By “following” each other, tweeple are able to view each other’s tweets in their newsfeeds. The hashtag (or the “#” symbol) is used to highlight the important parts of a tweet. They are useful for categorizing tweets and for making tweet searches easier. When a certain hashtag tips and is being tweeted rapidly by a large number of tweeple, Twitter lists it as a “trend” worldwide or in a particular country depending on the geography of the tweeters. Twitter itself has trended worldwide and is now being used by users to “find out what’s happening, right now, with the people and organizations [they] care about,” as stated on the website’s homepage.
Twitter has become a popular platform of exchange for Kurds.Kurds from the four parts of Kurdistan and in diaspora have been making use of this micro-blogging website to achieve what the geographic borders are denying them: communication. Through tweets Kurds who would otherwise not meet share their experiences, ideas, opportunities, and projects and discuss contemporary aspects and issues of Kurdistan. They also cooperate in introducing Kurdish culture to other tweeple.
On May 25, 2011 Kurdish tweeple introduced the “#TwitterKurds” hashtag to categorize the tweets that are related to Kurds or Kurdistan. In celebration of the first anniversary of the hashtag, a mass tweeting of the hashtags “#FreeKurdistan” and “#Freedom4Kurdistan” was organized. Both hashtags made it on Twitter’s list of “Worldwide Trends” thanks to a large number of tweeters all around the world. The mass tweeting was given more incentive after participants heard of LeylaZana’s new 10-¬year prison sentence under false “terrorism” charges.
The mass tweeting campaign and the successful trending of the hashtag strengthened the sense of identity within the Kurdish tweeple and intensified their passion for peaceful outreach through cyberspace. Every tweet posted was a drop in the ocean whose waves smashed into the cliffs of silence and injunction.
If you are feeling passionate about connecting and sharing with Kurds around the world, I recommend that you sign up for Twitter (if you haven’t already) and follow the conversations through the “#TwitterKurds” hashtag. Participate in this exciting web movement. Add to the ocean, drop by drop.
