Editing Blogging in Iran (section)

==Bam==
The December [[2003 Bam earthquake]] caused particular outrage and made clear the necessity for blogging as a news source. While the regime was ill-equipped to deal with the disaster where an estimated 30,000 people lost their lives. The aftermath was tremendous in damages, and a lack of journalists to cover the quake. Blogs, therefore, became a central source of information. For example, Dr. Marajan Haj-Ahmadi's blog became one of the most read, as she was based in the bordering city of Kerman and was able to report from the area and provide information as to the medical inadequacies. Others included Baba's blog, an anonymous ex-newspaper journalist who entered the region to provide accurate news reports from the disaster zone. The survivors of the Bam earthquake also began protesting due to lack of governmental support, which went unreported in the official news but the shooting of two individuals at a Friday prayer was reported by bloggers.

In her book "We are Iran: The Persian Blogs" Nasrin Alavi claims that the earthquake was a turning point for blogs being organizing forces as well as partnering with NGO's rather than governmental organizations:
{{quotation|Bloggers like 'Shineh' got involved in a variety of NGOs organizing their own collection points and the transportation of aid in many parts of Iran. They were sometimes able to notify their fellow bloggers of the whereabouts of survivors relocated to hospitals in urban centers. They organized hospital visits, charity sales, and recruited volunteers ready to help in Bam|(p. 260)}}
The translation from a virtual page into actual human mobility lent legitimacy to the blogger movement, as well as proving it to be a resilient form of networking that had practical applications. It also proved the fears of the government in that it began to resemble a movement rather than simply disconnected expressions of personal experiences.

===Transition to Facebook===
While blogging remains a key form of political protest, in the 2009 uprisings, Facebook began to take a more central role. The physical, rather than virtual protests spread through word-of-mouth rather than blogs. When possible, instances of police abuse were captured on mobile phone videos and then uploaded to YouTube, most famously the video of Neda Agha Soltan being shot to death in the streets of Teheran. These videos were shared on Facebook, fueling the protests. Originally blocked by the government in 2006, it had been unblocked in 2009, just months before the protests.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Green_Movement_And_New_Media/2068714.html |title = The Myths And Realities Of New Media In Iran's Green Movement| newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | date=12 June 2010 | last1=Esfandiari | first1=Golnaz }}</ref>