Brad Stone and Noam Cohen of The New York Times report that, as the embattled government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to be trying to limit Internet access and communications in Iran, new kinds of social media are challenging those traditional levers of state media control and allowing Iranians to find novel ways around the restrictions.

Iranians are blogging, posting to Facebook and, most visibly, coordinating their protests on Twitter, the messaging service. Their activity has increased, not decreased, since the presidential election on Friday and ensuing attempts by the government to restrict or censor their online communications.

Americans and other western nations with ties or sympathies with Iran are finding a deeper understanding of the turmoil by joining Facebook groups and following Tweets.

Twitter executives have recognized the power of Twitter during these events and even canceled schedule maintenance of the site in order to keep it open for use.

Acknowledging its role on the global stage, the San Francisco-based company said Monday that it was delaying a planned shutdown for maintenance for a day, citing “the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran," The Times reports.

For a deeper understanding of the role that social networking in playing in Iran, please visit the New York Times article here.

Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online