Twitter considered for the Nobel Peace Prize

Previous winners of the award include Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, the Dalai Lama and recently Al Gore, in 2007.

Pfeifle said that Twitter was instrumental in helping document the crisis in Iran after the contested presidential election results last month, an ongoing conflict that is still being tweeted by thousands inside and outside the county everyday.

At its peak, more than 220,000 Iran tweets were sent through Twitter every hour.

Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Pfeifle said: "When traditional journalists were forced to leave the country, Twitter became a window for the world to view hope, heroism, and horror.

"It became the assignment desk, the reporter, and the producer. And, because of this, Twitter and its creators are worthy of being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize."

Pfeifle first mentioned the idea while being interviewed for Fox News last week, which brought derisive laughter.

He said: "Twitter has been criticized as a time-waster -- a way for people to inform their friends about the minutiae of their lives, 140 characters at a time.

"But in the past month, 140 characters were enough to shine a light on Iranian oppression and elevate Twitter to the level of change agent.

"Even the government of Iran has been forced to utilize the very tool they attempted to squelch to try to hold on to power."

Pfeifle also had kind words for other social networks, like Facebook, where Iranian presidential candidate Hossein Mousavi has amassed more than 100,000 supporters.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate process has regularly been criticised throughout its 100 year history, mostly for its notable omissions, include Mahatma Ghandi, who never won the award.

Winners are selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, who is appointed by the Norwegian parliament.

The prize is presented annually in Oslo, Norway, in the presence of the king on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Last year's winner was former Finnish president and United Nations diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, who acted as a UN special envoy during the long running Kosovo-Serbia dispute.