Your unbelievable but rarely used power: Remote village in Iran owes you gratitude
Society and Politics Blog, Kodoom.com Editorial
In 2006, Time magazine selected "You" as the most influential "person of the year." This was due to the unprecedented power of internet in shaping world events, and power of each one of "You" to click on webpages and videos, forward them and make news, trends and movements. A prime example of this was the defeat in 2006 of former Republican U.S. Senator George Allen of Virginia who mocked an Indian-American person by calling him a Macaca - referring to a primate monkey, and used as a slur by colonialists in Africa for the native population. The incident was taped and placed on youtube and it was seen by millions. After a two-week outpour of negative publicity, Allen publicly apologized, but he lost his re-election bid for U.S. Senate despite his powerful backers and Republican support.
We at kodoom.com have experienced, first-hand, the power of internet and You. Many cultural events that we feature attract larger crowds than high budget commercial events, thanks to your "clicking" and forwarding our links, and attending the events. Also, nearly six months ago, we featured an Iranian short video called "ATTN: Mr. Democrat" which was a finalist in the U.S. government-sponsored short video Youtube contest "Democracy Challenge." We encouraged everyone to vote for the video. People voted and the video was a winner among contestants from all over the world.
Another incident was featuring a news story on our site about the population of a remote village in Iran losing fingers (picture above) to a make-shift pulley bridge when using it to cross a river. Within days after we featured the story, You made it "hot" and other sites followed. Today the Iranian Secretary of Agriculture ordered construction of a bridge for the village.
So apparently disconnected populations with good intent and a resolve to change the world for better, can now "unite" through the internet and sites like ours, for their causes. So next time, you see an article, ad or event news on our site that you like, click on it and forward it. If you have comments, make them heard. After all, the offspring of the people in the poor village of "Gavdaneh" in Iran will owe their fingers and voice to You and us.
»This is a summary of the original feature in Farsi. To request a more extensive translation of the Farsi text, please contact us.