Twitter's role in Iran coverage

Since last week, the Iran election has been one of the most-discussed topics on Twitter. Just type in #iranelection into Twitter's search function, and the latest information pops up. Wait a few minutes, and hundreds more tweets show up.

Click here to see the latest tweets on the Iran election.

People inside and outside Iran have been using the service to post updates from the protests, even pictures and video. The discussion on Twitter has been so important, the U.S. State Department even asked the company to put off scheduled maintenance. Twitter officials write about the decision on their blog, "we did so because events in Iran were tied directly to the growing significance of Twitter as an important communication and information network."

They also write, "it's important to note that the State Department does not have access to our decision making process."

Click here to read the full blog post.

"This is about the Iranian people, this is about giving their voices a chance to be heard," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "One of the ways their voice is heard are through new media."

One of the drawbacks of relying on Twitter for information, is the the media restrictions make it virtually impossible to independently verify much of the information. Also, a lot of the information is posted anonymously, and many of the writers include their opinions while documenting the events.