Posts from — June 2007
Solidariti
This is a stunning website from Australia with heaps of content of direct relevance to what Webguide 2 is about: Solidariti:
Solidariti = sharing technology knowledge among community organisations so that together we can inspire people to take action.
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June 30, 2007 No Comments
Technology and the US teen
danah boyd sees technology as helping US teens to build their own communities:
Given the state of what I see in all sorts of neighborhoods, I’m amazed at how well teens are coping and I think that technology has a lot to do with that. Teens are using social network sites to build community and connect with their peers. They are creating publics for socialization. And through it, they are showcasing all of the good, bad, and ugly of today’s teen life. Much of it isn’t pretty, but it ain’t pretty offline either. Still, it makes my heart warm when I see something creative or engaged or reflective. There is good out there too.
[Via : Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace .]
June 28, 2007 No Comments
Where to find your audience
If you want to reach people you need to go to where they are. And it seems that teenagers, in particular, are to be found at the social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, at least in the US:
[Research conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project] While Pew hasn’t yet focused on Twitter, it has studied the social-networking phenomenon, with which there is huge overlap. Its surveys have found that in the United States, 55 percent of all teenagers (ages 12 to 17) have social-network profiles, compared with 20 percent of all adult Internet users. Breaking it down by age, 50 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds have a profile on a social network; followed by 15 percent for those aged 30 to 49; 8 percent for those aged 50 to 64; and only 2 percent for those over 65.
[Via : [print version] The case against Twitter | CNET News.com.]
Interestingly, danah boyd has some thoughts on who goes where, and that social class may come into play:
Until recently, American teenagers were flocking to MySpace. The picture is now being blurred. Some teens are flocking to MySpace. And some teens are flocking to Facebook. Which go where gets kinda sticky, because it seems to primarily have to do with socio-economic class.
[Via : viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace.]
Has anyone done any New Zealand research?
June 28, 2007 No Comments
LiveEarth Twitters
LiveEarth uses Twitter to share one tip per day for combating the climate crisis: Twitter / LiveEarth070707.
SOS is the ongoing messaging campaign and larger movement behind Live Earth.
The mission of the SOS campaign is to empower individuals to change their consumer behaviors and motivate corporations and political leaders to enact decisive measures to combat the climate crisis. The message of SOS is that everyone, everywhere can and must Answer the Call to solve the climate crisis.
See :
SOS | Live Earth | 7.7.07.
June 27, 2007 No Comments
Google Earth more accessible to nonprofits
Google Earth … unveiled a new initiative to make its Google Earth geography software a more accessible tool for nonprofit organizations. … Google Earth Outreach is now live, and several downloadable layers from the program’s inaugural partners–the Global Heritage Fund, Earthwatch and Fair Trade Certified–are now available online.
…Nonprofit uses, particularly those pertaining to environmental and humanitarian causes, have proven to be one of the most prolific uses for the software. “We think that the technologies we’re developing can be an important catalyst for education, for sharing information, for advocacy, to address global and local issues that affect everyone around the world,” said Elliot Schrage, Google’s vice president of global communications and public affairs.
It was the success of the Darfur layer, which Schrage described as “an incredibly vivid, powerful way of informing people what is going on in a faraway part of the world,” that ultimately convinced the company to devote more Google Earth resources to the nonprofit initiative. “We believe that Google Earth can revolutionize the way people see the world around them,” he added.
[Via : Google Earth announces formal nonprofit initiative | Tech news blog - CNET News.com.]
June 27, 2007 No Comments
