Iranian Instagram Users Set Record on Donald Trump's Post

Iranian users of the social media platform Instagram set a new record after 17 days of commenting on one of Donald Trump's photos, the President of the United States. This movement began as a protest against Trump's use of an alternative name for the Persian Gulf. This is not the first time Iranian users have launched a campaign on social media, generating news through likes and comments. However, this time their virtual activity has set a record. On October 13, Trump announced his strategic policy towards Iran, stating that he would not endorse Iran's actions based on the JCPOA and announced new sanctions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. What caught the attention of many users, even more than these points, was when Trump referred to the Persian Gulf using an Arabic term instead of 'Persian.' Moments later, a photo of Trump delivering this speech was published on his official Instagram account, and Iranian users flocked to the page to express their objections to the alternative name for the Persian Gulf. Dozens of comments were added every minute until the total reached about four million, breaking the record for the most comments under a single photo on Instagram. The virtual activity of Iranian users began with various hashtags related to the Persian Gulf and Iran. As the volume of comments increased, the scope of the discussion expanded. Some users commented against neighboring countries, while others resorted to humor, and some wrote derogatory remarks about the U.S. President or the people of neighboring countries. However, the ultimate goal of the users who continued commenting for 17 days was to break a record. Previously, Turkish citizens held the record for comments on Instagram. A few months ago, they had urged Diego Costa, a player for Atletico Madrid, to join Besiktas in Turkey under a photo. Typically, record holders on Instagram in terms of likes and comments have been artists, musicians, and athletes, but now the official account of a politician has taken the top spot in terms of comments on a political subject. Iranian users have previously shown their sensitivity to internet events regarding the Persian Gulf. A decade ago, Iranians protested by creating a Google bomb to block searches for the term 'Arabian Gulf.' However, Iranian users' actions have not been limited to just reminding the name of the Persian Gulf; for instance, during the last World Cup, when Lionel Messi scored the winning goal for Argentina against Iran, his social media pages were bombarded with insults from Iranian users.