Community Mobilization

Privacy, Online Social Spaces, and Parents

As many of you know I enjoy reading the work of a number of authors, danah boyd in particular. He research and studies on the role of the internet in the socialization of youth is both timely and every changing. Recently she and a few of her colleagues at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society composed a response to official FCC Notice of Inquiry Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape. 

I was impressed with the scope of the inquiry and believe that it will develop some worthwhile positive findings. It is actively looking to better understanding the bad: (i) exposure to exploitative advertising; (ii) exposure to inappropriate content (such as offensive language, sexual content, violence, or hate speech); (iii) impact on health (for example, childhood obesity,tobacco use, sexual behavior, or drug and alcohol use); (iv) impact on behavior (in particular, exposure to violence leading to aggressive behavior); (v) harassment and bullying; (vi) sexual predation; (vii) fraud and scams; (viii) failure to distinguish between who can and who cannot be trusted when sharing information; and (ix) compromised privacy.

... and the good: (i) accessing educational content; (ii) acquiring technological literacy needed to compete in a global economy; (iii) developing new skills in the use of technology and the creation of content; (iv) facilitating new forms of communication with family and peers; (v) improving health through telemedicine; and (vi) removing barriers for children with disabilities.

The NOI findings could have substantial impacts on future internet policy, and that could directly impact how youth use, and are allowed to use the internet. The topic is in a constant state of flux influenced by media outlets, personal experiences, and the ebbs and flows of conventional wisdom. It is my hope that the NOI can bring in academically sound research and insights, and that the recommendations from those who have the deepest understanding of the issues hold the most weight in the creation of policy.

Stuff We All Get for blogging?

Part of attending a conference is the bounty of SWAG (Stuff We All Get) with our registration packets. Shirts, pens, flash-drives, coasters - thing we must have and need ... always emblazoned with corporate logos and slogans.

Swagapaloza is an invitation only event that engages influential Bloggers / Tweeters, Digggers and connects them with product marketers. The Bloggers attend an event where they sit through presentations to learn about new products and services. They are entitled to free samples from the presenting companies, and are obviously encouraged to continue to write about thier experience with the product.

I like the attept here to identify the most wel read and influential digital media producers. The concept is to see the grassroots with information about a product and generate buzz about it. What interestes me is how Swagapaloz is going to meaasure the buzz generate by the event. Moreso I am interested if they are going to attribute buzz value back to individual bloggers, or if they will simply say that the buzz created  is attributed to Swagapaloza.

Communal Collaboration - Media

In the past year there have been some very interesting advents in crowd-funded enterprises. Crowd funding provides capitol by colelcting small amounts of money from a large number of people. In recent months Bands have started tours with crowd funding, and now there is a space where crowds can help fund the publication and production of certain pieces of journalism.

"Spot Us" is a nonprofit that allows an individual or group to take control of news by sharing the cost (crowdfunding) to commission freelance journalists. Spot Us is made possible by the Knight Foundation and the funding models will eventually help craft the kind of content that appears. What is interesting is that this creates a social long tail situation where the more interesting stories will garner funding and the rest will languish ... to be published on the internet and picked up by niche groups where they will thrive.

The crowd funding model for me goes beyond economics. It hits at the heart of the general consideration of a society and its media. If we had a choice, would we fund 18 months of Britney Spears coverage, or would we fund better more interesting? are the masses uncontent with the current content are going elsewhere. If given the opportunity to have more of a say, putting your money where your mouth is, would we see  people campaigning for stories they care about? What would a crowd funded evening news look like both locally nd Nationally?

Geo-tagging and Photo Sharing

One of the next evolutions in photo sharing and blogging is automatic geo-tagging. The NY Times technology reporter David Pogue looks at very cool memory card that places geographic information onto the photos you take with your digital camera. The Eye-Fi memory card uses a new technology called WiPS, short for WiFi Positioning system.

A company called Skyhook employed drivers to drive all over the nation capturing home and business based WiFi network signals and attached GPS positions to each of the network addresses. Eye-Fi detects those home network signals and then associated them with GPS coordinates so that you can get geographical information based on the WiFi networks you are close to. It is position accurate within about 10 feet. Great information especially since it gets loaded onto photo sharing spaces like Flickr.

Like other geo tagging projects (Yellow arrow) this evolution is going to build information in the Metaverse. Form a marketing perspective when you combine information tagging and geo-tagging you get to see a more holistic understanding of personal experience to place and events. It is unique view that conveys genuine honesty beyond what you can obtain from a focus group.

Life as Idenity Building

Kairos Futures, a European Futures publication, has a very cool article based on a study the conducted that I participated in. The study takes a broad look at how individuals, particularly younger Europeans, feel the need to expose and broadcast their personal lives openly for all to see. The insinuation is the act of sharing helps to shape you identity and shape the image that others have of your identity.

In a historical context there are two important societal shifts that have brought about the importance of identity building: the shift from strict social hierarchy to meritocracy and the shift from collectivism to individualism. Today, people are mostly judged by their own merits and accomplishments and less by where they come from.

That being th case it seems clear that to survive in the meritocracy it is key to broadcast all of your individual accomplishments as well as make sure that you are being a part of the collective forward movement. To be active is to belong, and to be long is to be valuable. We are now living our life not for ourselves but for the perception of other.

David Neff on using social media tools in Non Profits

Our friend and social media maven Beth Kanter has posted a insightful interview with our other friend and frequent co-presenter David Neff. David using the Sharinghope.tv platform to provide 3 key tips to non profits when entering the social medial space.

The tips are 1. Experiment, 2. Buys a video Camera, and 3. Research what other companies and organizations are doing in the field and learn from their success and mistakes. These suggestions are not only valid for nonprofits but they ring true to any organization or company. Part of being successful is understanding the space you are entering. Any for profit company will invest money and research into understanding new markets before getting into them. With social media all you really need is a few adventurous staff members to try things on with an eye always focusing on the organization's goal.

Video and Non Profits - Get a Grant and Make it Happen

In recent months we in the non profit field have begun to really embrace the power of video. The personal story is taking center stage as we showcase hour our mission activities make real differences in real people's lives. The American Cancer Society continues to build on its Sharing Hope video platform and the March of Dimes is using video in their Every baby has a Story project.

Flip Video wants to help your non profit harness the power of video. They have a mission to deliver ONE MILLION flip video recorders to qualifying non profits over the next 5 years. The mission is ambitious but it could help change the world by educating through personal and engaging videos.

Human Rights, and Virtual Poperty Rights

The panelists consist of professionals from GoPets, Live gamer, and Charles River Ventures. One of the questions that often comes up is are game designers responsible of devaluation of valuable goods in world? The panelist seem to agree that part of game play is treating player fairly but game owners can not be held accountable for market forces.Marketing side is more important than the legal side. Treat the customers well in protecting their content (not necessarily guaranteeing value). EULAs help to determine publisher responsibilities, but again vthe questions are all centered on the challenges of the legal vs. the ethical.
Part of the limiting factors of WOW is the lack of human and property rights within the game. One amazing questions becomes inheritance and willing of objects. Monetary value that is assigned to avatars and to activity is difficult to assign since there is not always a definitive dollar value to an object or a skill set.

Map Mashups for Fundraisers

I just found a really good map mashup for the greater New York area that shows the locations of all of the Relay For Life events on a map. Creating mashups like these are neat for visual learners and those who like to see where events that are taking place are close to them.

As mashups continue to proliferate we will see additional medias being combined. Sharing Hope .TV is a site that encourages users to upload their own content about their cancer experience. Best part is that the site allows constituents to license their content Creative Commons. All of this is important to seeding mashups.

Teen Communication Modality - A Look Forward

They say you can take a good guess about the future by looking at those who will be in charge then, and if that holds the Pew study on Teens and Social Media is pretty  telling. It focuses on the fact that social media gained a greater foothold in teen life as they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media. the study found that 39% of online teens share their own artistic creations online such as artwork, photos stories, or videos. They are creating a culture and location of sharing work unlike anything mass media could ever have dreamed.

Even more telling is that girls (who we knew communicated more than boys) are taking it online too. Girls continue to dominate most elements of content creation. Some 35% of all teen girls blog, compared with 20% of online boys, and 54% of wired girls post photos online compared with 40% of online boys. And the most interesting statistic to me is HOW the teens are communicating when they communicate. Social portals and networks WAY out pace face to face (duh - we have global friendships now) but face to face is higher than e-mail. The killer app is dying! Amazing. Asked about the communication they have every day with their friends, the multi-channel teens say:

70% talk daily with friends on a cell phone
60% send text messages daily
54% instant message
47% send messages daily over social network sites
46% talk to friends on a landline phone
35% spend time with friends in person daily
22% send email every day to friends