Archive for January, 2007
World Economic Forum Webcast: Leveraging the Power of People
If you have some time, check out the webcast of Jan. 27th’s Web 2.0 session from the World Economic Forum, called “How Web 2.0 will mould the future.” The panelists focused on social networking and some discussion of the emerging 3D avatar worlds like Second Life and World of Warcraft. . .
tags: 1 commentUniversity of Georgia: Linking “Connected” Communities
I’m not sure there’s a better-defined “community” than the members of a college or university. Student, faculty, staff, alumni and friends generally have strong feelings and ties to the institution where they teach, work, study, play and spend (or spent) a good part of their adult life.
With ready access to computers, cell phones, personal data devices and the like, this community has the potential to be one of the most “connected” of communities and benefit from the shared ideas and goals from those both physically located on campus, to those who share a virtual connection.
tags: 1 commentYelvington Earns NAA Innovator Award
Congratulations to Steve Yelvington for being named 2007 Online Innovator of the Year by the Newspaper Association of America.
tags: No commentsBlogging, Podcasting change lives in Belarus and Uzbekistan
The modern world powered by technology has drastically altered our traditional understanding of what a community is. However, in a shift from physical to the virtual, the term “community” has retained its validity, contrary to the gloomy predictions of doomsayers terrified by the atomization of individuals and the disaggregation of communities that never happened. Instead, many new communities sprung up to take advantage of the wealth of information that became available thanks to the Internet. And although “bowling alone” has often morphed into “blogging alone,” the latter manages to amplify and stimulate a truly global conversation in unprecedented ways.
tags: 2 commentsShould You Pay Your Community’s Contributors?
From The World Economic Forum comes the news that YouTube will start paying those who upload videos.
First of all… at the World Economic Forum… a YouTube announcement? Shouldn’t the folks there be talking about, I don’t know, currency trading or real estate speculation or climate change?
tags: No commentsCreating Stronger “Connected” Communities
In my opinion, a community in a connected world is a group of people who effect collective actions through active participation and communication. Generally, communities in an unconnected world are not created and maintained through voluntary participation; families, friends and colleagues are representative examples of communities in the unconnected world. Compared to the unconnected world, the connected world enables people to share ideas and information without limitations of speed or space. As a result, numerous communities are created based on participation of people who share common interests. Furthermore, the network infrastructure enables the communities to dynamically evolve through active communication. Through voluntary participation and active communication, communities in the connected world can grow dynamically, can strengthen their solidarity, and can create collective actions.
tags: No commentsWii Have a Community
I find the phrase “citizen journalism” is in some cases far too weighty a label for the most interesting examples of the activity. Not every CJ site is about global warming or local democracy in action. . .
tags: 2 commentsIs there such a thing as “the” community?
BRADENTON, FLORIDA - Two friends and I spent Sunday evening at a local skating rink videotaping a Bradentucky Bombers roller derby match. Bradenton seems to be developing its own roller derby community. There’s already a strong one in the Tampa area, just to our North. And this is just one example of a local community or subculture that gets only scant notice from major media outlets. There are plenty of others, even in a small city like Bradenton, Florida (population 60,000).
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Digitally Lame
This is a draft of an article I’ve been working on concerning the accelerating affect that online social networking has had on cultural mores. I would love thoughts and comments.
John Fischer
Associate / Infinia Foresight–
Digitally Lame: How Internet Popularity Lapped Me
The first day as a senior in High School was a premonition of things to come.
Having spent the previous year digging out from a decade of social ostracization—carefully cultivating a key set of friends and acquaintances—I coasted into homeroom confident that the black sheep had finally been sheared. That is, until lunchtime. Read more
tags: 1 commentDigital Communities Are Very Real
Neighborhood Transcends Geography in a Connected World
In 1962 or 1963, my (long-deceased) ham-radio-operator father predicted that as long-distance communications became ubiquitous due to technical advances, “In another generation or two, ‘neighborhoods’ will be defined by shared interests, not geography.”
tags: 5 commentsNourishing Grassroots Journalism for a Global Community
Community – Who would have thought we would ever live in a world where the word community was difficult to define? I believe that in this globalized society, community means connection. At The Press Institute for Women in the Developing World, an international nonprofit organization and independent journalism initiative, we strive to produce news content on subjects that connect people everywhere, even people who live worlds apart. We approach news from the standpoint of a worldwide community. . .
tags: 2 commentsRedefining Community
The evolution of new media has intrinsically redefined this nation’s concepts of community. Growing up in the small towns of Ohio, communities for me were always close and clearly defined. Friends, families, churches and schools were connected through location, similar perspectives and shared goals. Communities today extend beyond local definitions and proximity. Technology empowers people from diverse locations and different cultures to explore and collaborate on new solutions together. People are connected now in ways that many of us hadn’t even anticipated. Every day, you can call, email, text, put up video, download video, always a new opportunity – for some a joy, for others a strain to keep up. For me, working with people to embrace, understand and utilize this new definition of community to their benefit has become a primary goal. Opportunities are here, but unless they are made fully accessible to extended audiences, only a small group will reflect the next step in defining community.
tags: No commentsBio–Tish Grier
Blog editor and social media manager, We Media Miami
Outspoken, up and coming media focused freelance writer/blogger Tish Grier launched her career in new media in 2006. . .
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