Release of Childhood Photos in Response to Claims of Normalcy in Iranians' Foreign Travel; Record 40 Million Views on a Tweet

The release of thousands of childhood images by Iranian users, accompanied by humorous captions, on the platform X, in response to a comment by a user regarding the normalization of travel to Europe, has broken the record for attention to a seemingly ordinary Persian post on this social media platform, reaching nearly 40 million views. Recently, a relatively low-profile user with a pseudonymous account on the social media platform X criticized Iranians who share images of their travels abroad, stating that 'a trip is nothing special' and claimed that 'everyone has at least once traveled to Europe in their childhood.' In reaction to this comment, about 15,000 users retweeted this text and shared childhood photos from Iran with fictional and humorous captions about foreign travel. Many of the images shared in response to this comment, mostly from the 1960s and 70s in Iran, reflect the lack of recreational facilities and the prominent issues facing society, including restrictions on individual and social freedoms such as mandatory hijab and poverty. Some users also referenced previous contradictory statements from the same user, who had said, 'We can't even afford food; we haven't thought about houses, cars, entertainment, or travel for a long time.' The images shared in this context mostly relate to a period in people's lives in Iran when, due to shortages of basic goods, items were rationed, and citizens often waited in long lines for hours to obtain essential living supplies with coupon allocations. The actions of thousands of users in response to this seemingly ordinary post led to an increase in followers for this pseudonymous user, making their short text the most notable Persian post on X, with around 40 million views. While some observers say that 'everyday writing' is one of the methods used by the cyber forces of the Islamic Republic to attract audiences and then guide public opinion when necessary, for others, the criticism of a post without insults and simply by sharing users' childhood images with humorous captions is seen as a noteworthy aspect of this public online event. The transformation of a user's post into the most viewed Persian post on X, which claimed that every Iranian has traveled to Europe at least once in childhood, comes at a time when increasing livelihood problems in Iran lead to daily public protests, and with the expansion of poverty and destitution among citizens, the number of working children is on the rise. Additionally, studies show that due to poverty, children are falling behind in education, reaching first graders, and many students have not yet registered for the upcoming school year. Reports also indicate that 'seven regions of the country' are facing a shortage of schools, with an increase in 'dropout children' due to poverty.