The Banality of ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Photo “THE New Digital Age” is a startlingly clear and provocative blueprint for technocratic imperialism, from two of its leading witch doctors, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, who construct a new idiom for United States global power in the 21st century. This idiom reflects the ever closer union between the State Department and Silicon Valley, as personified by Mr. Schmidt, the executive chairman of , and Mr. Cohen, a former adviser to Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton who is now director of Google Ideas. The authors met in occupied Baghdad in 2009, when the book was conceived. The book proselytizes the role of technology in reshaping the world’s people and nations into likenesses of the world’s dominant superpower, whether they want to be reshaped or not.
“The New Digital Age” is, beyond anything else, an attempt by Google to position itself as America’s geopolitical visionary — the one company that can answer the question “Where should America go?” 6 Guidelines for Better Development Outcomes Using Social Media. In the next few years, another 2 billion people will be coming online; transforming the Internet from what once was an elite network of the world’s privileged to a democratizer of information and power. This wave of new users will mainly enter the Internet via mobile phones on social networks. Of course Facebook feels dominant today – there are now more people on Facebook than the total number of people online in 2004. And there are more Facebook users in Bangkok or Jakarta than London. Facebook’s success is followed closely by Twitter, which is (rightly) seen as a whole different kind of social media.
Just check out these African tweet maps. Regardless of these two or whatever comes next, social media has a reach only behind radio and TV in electronically touching people’s lives. More powerfully than radio or TV, social media allows you to interact directly with your constituents, breaking down hierarchical barriers. 6 Guidelines for Better Outcomes Using Social Media 1. 2. 3. 4. Internet activism is a myth. However, the online public spaces have almost all the facial features of offline public spaces. The categories and variables, which decided social interaction in every day life, have also been traced here. Social variables like gender, sexuality, power, class, caste, race and knowledge are vastly reproduced on Internet.
The categories which mediate social world prior to the emergence of social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, Flickr are also visible after its coming out and they are as problematic as they were before. The question that arises is what exactly the public sphere on Internet looks like. To what extent social media platforms are instrumental in shaping the lives in the public sphere?
Is there any difference between public sphere “offline” and “online”? People are giving vent to their feelings, expressing their ideas, thoughts and opinions—be it political, social, economic or otherwise on social media. Can Clickitivsm work in “real” world? Asia-Pacific Social Media Statistics Internet usage is sky-rocketing throughout the Asia-Pacific region, obviously making the growth of social media the fastest in the world, as you’ll see, it’s not all about Facebook, but it still leads the way across the region, at least for now. This is a nice collective Infographic from Burson-Marsteller.
The social media statistics cover the most popular social networks in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam at a top level, but also lists a few basic internet statistics per country, like the total number of people connected to the internet and the top 5 visited websites… Make sure you save this post for later, I’m sure you’ll need to reference these stats at some stage in the future! (Thanks Alex/Carly) Be Sociable, Share! What if Environmentalism Were as Big as Social Media? [INFOGRAPHIC] What if everyone across the globe used his or her social media influence to help the planet?
The impact would be huge, according to a recent infographic from Recyclebank, a company that rewards green consumers with discounts and deals from local and national businesses. The data encourages the connected generation to use social networks and technology for a positive effect on the earth. For example, if each Pinterest user shared one green idea per month, there would be 12 million more environmentally-conscious tips being passed around. The efforts can be carried offline, too. According to Recyclebank, if everyone on Facebook shortened his or her shower by one minute, we would save enough water to fill 1,136,364 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
What relationship do you see between social media and helping the planet? Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Olena_T. It. [Data Viz] KONY2012: See How Invisible Networks Helped a Campaign Capture the World’s Attention. If you’ve spent any time at all on Twitter and Facebook over the last week or so, you’ve undoubtably heard about KONY2012. The campaign by the nonprofit advocacy group Invisible Children centered around Joseph Kony, the Uganda warlord and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a guerrilla group with a long and violent history that includes the kidnapping of children.
With striking and dramatic imagery and Hollywood-style editing, the campaign video presents an utterly compelling message in the age of “social” media: by simply clicking “share,” you can make a difference in the world. And “share” the world did, the video racking up 100 million views YouTube in only six days (the fastest campaign to surpass that high bar after Susan Boyle did it in 9, and Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance took 18 days).
The preliminary YouTube data paints a picture of a youth movement: the video was heavily viewed from mobile phones and is most popular with 13-17 year old females and 18-24 year old males. Comments. Genext: Small Families' Advocacy Campaign | Children, Equity, and Development. Launched in 2010, Genext is a nationwide participatory youth campaign in Uganda that is advocating for smaller family sizes. Implemented by the Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) with the support of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project brings together youth aged 18 to 30 years as "Good Life" Ambassadors, who are rallying for a smaller population by 2013.
In addition to advocacy with community leaders and through the media, the campaign uses online social media such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to promote smaller families. Communication Strategies: According to the campaign, a smaller population will guarantee better health and education, better jobs, money for food, and quality of life for children. The project is working to: The campaign links into the ongoing "Good Life" initiative, which encourages people to view health choices as a part of what can help create the good life they are seeking.
Key Points: Partner Text: When thieves struck, this Kenyan chief turned to Twitter. When Francis Kariuki got a 4 a.m. call that thieves were breaking into a home in his Kenyan village, he turned to a technological tool for help -- Twitter. He put the word out in less than 140 characters. Minutes later villagers gathered and the thieves fled, the Associated Press reports. Shooing thieves isn't the only way that Kariuki, an administrative chief in the west Kenyan village of Lanet Umoja, has deployed Twitter.
His tweets range from philosophical ruminations to alerts about missing sheep: [<a href=" target="_blank">View the story "New Story" on Storify</a>] What Kariuki is doing is part of a wider trend that challenges stereotypes about who uses social media and where. Kenya, the second most prolific country for tweets on the continent, sent out nearly 2.5 million tweets in three months. Want to see which countries tweet the most? Honduras prisoners hobble out of smoldering prison [Video] -- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles.
Can Technology be transformational? Opening up Development through Technology. Twitter, Facebook, SMS, and Crowdsourcing—2011 has certainly been the year in which the use of social media and technology has captured the world’s attention. From Tahrir Square in Egypt to the Anna Hazare movement in India, citizens have demonstrated that they want voice and accountability. Innovations in social media, mobile phones and inter-active mapping are powerful tools to mobilize citizens and to provide people with a voice—thus broadening the political debate.
However, key questions remain unanswered: What role can these innovative tools play to encourage governments, donors and foundations to become more transparent, open and accountable? Can the use of social media and cell phones empower people and marginalized communities, and close the feedback loop, allowing citizens to directly report back on project results and participate in decision-making processes about the use of public funds? Social Media and News | Media Program. Download Files Download the complete 21-page report. 198.49 KB pdf The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from traditional to digital media. Covering 60 countries, the project examines how these changes affect the core democratic service that any media system should provide: news about political, economic, and social affairs.
The incredible growth of social media has dominated the Web 2.0 decade. With research showing that most internet users stumble across news online while looking for something else, news organizations can no more ignore social media than they can ignore the communities they seek to serve (and the markets which its advertisers seek to reach). News organizations are being sidestepped by newsmakers that use social media to communicate directly with audiences; news products are being unbundled across multiple platforms; and production processes are becoming more networked. Africa's new generation is using social media to push for change | Global development.
Africa is becoming increasingly attractive to international investors, and the growth in its human capital is also very exciting. This new generation of makers, doers, inventors, venture capitalists, bloggers, policymakers – the "Cheetah Generation" as the Ghanaian economist George Ayittey has called them – are the hungry grassroots who have been let down by their governments. All they want to do is reshape the continent. Africa has never been talked about this much and – yes – there is a reason of why a continent once perceived as problematic and unattractive is suddenly the hottest date in town.
From economists, investment bankers, would-be philanthropists, well-meaning donors, and business experts, to arrogant, know-it-all people who failed the continent in front of our eyes but still deny it, more than ever, everyone is interested in our continent. There is a growing confidence among the African cheetahs. . * Mariéme Jamme is co-founder of Africa Gathering. The Internet in East Africa - an Aid Or a Weapon? [press release]