Is technology about more than buying the new MacBook Air or downloading an application that links your fridge with your Facebook account?

Lauren Movius, a PhD student at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California, sees in new technologies not just the potential to make comfortable people more comfortable, but also the power to bring marginalized people to the center of debates that affect their lives. At Annenberg, Lauren researches global media policy and the political economy of communications; she also holds a dual MSc/MA degree in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and USC.

Today Lauren shares her interests and motivations in coming to We Media Miami:

I’m interested in how people shape communications technologies to make them their own, and how, in turn, these practices may transform the future of such technologies. Participatory media enables disadvantaged groups to fight against social exclusion: It gives them a chance to make their voices heard.

Recently, I’ve been intrigued by appropriation of cell phones, and how marginalized groups are using the technology in order to tell their stories — and thereby challenging power relationships. François Bar at USC introduced me to Motoboys, a network of motorcycle couriers in San Paulo, Brazil, who used camera phones to chronicle their daily lives. They shared each other’s work and decided what stories to cover, resulting in CanalMOTOBOY, a real-time account of their lives and work.

Such mobile-based projects use communications technology to make the world a better place. While improving health, expanding economic opportunities and educating people are essential uses of technology in developing countries, the opportunity to tell one’s story is also important and its power should not be forgotten. Participatory media not only gives these groups a voice but also brings important social and political issues to the fore in public debates.

As part of the zexe.net project, for example, forty disabled people in Madrid documented the city’s wheelchair access with cell phone cameras and then combined this with Google maps, providing a view of how accessible their city is — or isn’t. The resulting mash-up makes visible an important political issue concerning disablity rights. Similarly, the Motoboys in San Paulo, who were previously portrayed negatively in the mainstream press, have started to compete with more established courier services, thus prompting the local government to pass more favorable industry-regulation laws.

At We Media Miami I hope to improve my knowledge of the power of media and also learn from the projects and creativity of others. As part of my PhD studies, I have researched how media can strengthen communities; in Miami, I look forward to networking with others concerned with issues of how to harness communications media for the public good.

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The social web depends on content, tagging and utility created or improved by the good will of the people formerly known as the audience.

Where does good will end and greed take over? That depends on whether you’re a giver or taker. Dan Gillmor at the Center for Citizen Media is bothered by the free labor scheme he sees in a corporate blog post about new features just announced at Reddit, a commercial recommendation service and competitor to Digg owned by the Newhouse family’s Conde Nast magazine group, which, along with Vogue, Glamour and Bon Appetite magazines, publishes Wired (which publishes various blogs, among which we find a recent report on a crowdsourced Shins video shot by fans).

Reddit is looking for programmers to hire - and volunteer translators. Dan is bothered by that explicit distinction of value - cash for coders, air kisses for translators.

The finger-wagging at Reddit raises this question: Is there a qualitative, ethical or rational distinction between Reddit’s overt and explicit request for help with its product, the result of which could be a more valuable service for whoever uses it, and the implied request for help from the multitude of platforms and conversation-fueled media - like Facebook, MySpace, Kos, PerezHilton - or from the non-profit competitor to Digg and Reddit - NewsTrust? (Disclosure - I advise NewsTrust). They all depend on user-supplied content, comments, tags and filtering to create any semblance of a business model. Is asking for free translations going too far? But asking for recommendations, evaluations, comments, photos or trackbacks is ok?

Comment: A backlash against uncompensated contributions to commercial media would be fun sport to watch. Imagine if millions of people decided to dump Facebook next week, just for spite.

Analysis: The hype around crowdsourcing leads, at times, to visions of an open-source digital utopia in which everything online is produced for free by righteous individuals who donate their writing, editing, video, photo, coding, translation or whatever skills to virtuous, free, universally accessible, multi-lingual projects that are made better through the collective intelligence and will of said crowd. Professionals, meaning pay is involved, not necessarily skill, fade to black in this world. Though fantastical, the vision draws on the ancient sense of human connectedness. When people put their minds to it, anything is possible. Even Wikipedia. Indeed, the principle of shared, linked intelligence - through hyperlinks - is the bedrock of the web itself.

The ideal of digital collaboration - all for one and one for all - degrades to a more distopian tragedy when for-profit companies try to persuade unpaid contributors to expand, enhance and add value to their services. AOL built its chat-driven empire on the backs of volunteer chat moderators. But recruiting volunteers to work hard and well for your benefit isn’t easy. Commercial failures in volunteer-dependent hyper-local journalism come to mind - Dan Gillmor’s Bayosphere, for one, followed by Backfence. But so do commercial survivors, like delicious, MySpace and YouTube.

Forecast: The crowd will continue to create AND contribute - on its own terms, when and where it feels like it makes sense. Asking for help may at times appear selfish. The willingness to offer it reflects our yearning to link with and help each other.

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Vinita Srivastava, an assistant professor of journalism at Ryerson University, is no old-school j-prof. A children’s-book author, culture writer and founding co-host of radio programs Masala Mixx and the Asia Pacific Forum, she teaches innovative courses on global multimedia reporting at Ryerson. She also directs VerseCity.com, a project that’s all about putting media power in the hands of marginalized youth.

At We Media Miami, Vinita will speak about media literacy in today’s world, at a Wednesday panel chaired by John Bell, who heads Ogilvy’s Digital Influence team. Today Vinita tells us what her current media passions are and what she hopes to gain from coming to We Media Miami:

What role does digital media play in building transnational networks? Despite the realities of the digital divide—marked by the disparities of access by both race and class—the potential of the Internet to facilitate progressive networks burns like a bright flicker of hope. As technology and and easy web tools become more available, resistance movements and alternative global media networks appear to strengthen. They may be momentary flames, like the 100,000-strong MySpace protestors last year in L.A. or the tiny circle of bloggers getting photos out of Myanmar. Yet they provide much-needed alternative voices in an increasingly consolidating media world.

At the same time, many are left out of this new global civil society. I advocate for multimedia journalism training for youth in under-resourced areas. Such training provides participants with the tools necessary to tell their own stories and thereby help correct distorted perceptions of their communities in the mainstream media.
What might an intercultural exchange among marginalized youth in global cities, aided by technology, do for the self-image of such disempowered youth? Could they gain a greater sense of community ownership, agency and civic participation? Research shows that media literacy affects levels of civic participation; engagement with media production may encourage participation in public debates and decision making by young adults.

At We Media Miami I hope to connect with other digital-media practitioners and researchers interested in how digital media can empower youth. I also hope to internationalize my media empowerment project, VerseCity.com at the Ryerson School of Journalism. Several months ago, Verse City and Young People’s Press offered journalism workshops to marginalized high school students through the university. Our project also received funding to build a multimedia education centre for youth, in partnership with East Metro Youth Services, a community youth-services agency in the suburbs of Toronto. The end goal is to see a more diverse student body in terms of race and class and, in turn, a more diverse media producing more inclusive news.

As a former researcher for the New York Times and a digital journalism professor, I feel hopeful about the web and the innovations it brings us. I spend many late nights hunting for do-it-yourself tech tools—incredible tools that were unimaginable just a short time ago. I love tools like Vuvox.com, which lets me build Flash applications quickly. Lightstalkers and Facebook allow me to stay in touch and feel part of an international community, whether my colleague is in New York, LA or Bombay.

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Facebook and other social networks are a new tool for citizen-powered justice. See, for instance, Witness Hub, which focuses the tools of media - video cameras and web video -  to document, draw attention to and underscore campaigns against human rights abuses worldwide.  But social justice is in the eye of the beholder. Recently a U.S. college student accused of sexual assault was "outed" by an angry online mob, via Facebook. The story of online mob justice foreshadows an impending wave of conflicts between individuals - some expecting privacy based on old notions of legal process and personal space, others dispensing with those traditions in favor of new power expressed through digital networks and zeal. Media ethics suddenly applies to everyone, which means everyone can think about media practices in the most personal of terms: When do I name names, when do I use anonymous sources, when do I strip away your normal expectations of privacy? In the age of the digital everything, we are all big brother.

See: Sex Charges and a Facebook Frenzy in Newsweek.com

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What’s that feeling you often have when leaving an exciting conference? “Dang it, I didn’t get a chance to talk to X or Y or Z.” Face time is what a conference is all about, and we want to help you maximize it at We Media Miami. With that in mind, we’re going to start introducing some of the folks who will be attending the forum so you can get a head start on networking.

Today we meet Corinna Moebius, director of Imagine Miami, an innovative online community in Miami-Dade. She explains here what her work is all about and why she’s coming to We Media Miami. Corinna, take it away –

I am the director of Imagine Miami, a community effort to connect people, organizations and businesses that want to improve the quality of life in Miami-Dade County, Florida. We spark hope and civic spirit by helping people share ideas, actions, tools and examples of how to get involved in our communities and neighborhoods.

Imagine Miami connects people with accessible, welcoming online and face-to-face spaces for learning, collaboration and engagement, facilitating what we call “civic networking.” We mix the vital word-of-mouth energy and cutting edge tools of online social networking with face-to-face gatherings. We’re building online, collaborative “Civic Wikis” to share ideas, tools and multimedia examples of local civic change.

We share highlights of Wikis at face-to-face events, and in turn “live blog” and videotape many of our events, posting the videos online – via Facebook, our Web site and other sites like YouTube and uVu (Channel 2), and incorporating good ideas back into the Wikis. Probably our favorite technology tool is Facebook: Imagine Miami’s group on Facebook grows by an average of 30 people daily.

We are collaborators, and work closely with both local and national partners. More then 20 people from diverse backgrounds currently volunteer for Imagine Miami (including six interns).

We infuse civic networking into our own programs, special events and activities, as well as those of our partners. Our fun and inspiring events take place at sites across the county, and help connect people to the place, to each other, and to tools for turning inspiration into action.

Our two core programs include Creative Impact (arts, culture and civic engagement) and Adopt-Your-Block. IM’s Summit on Arts, Culture & Civic Engagement (February 16, 2008) will gather ideas from more than 200 participants for how to build high-impact county-wide, creative collaborations focused on specific local issues and communities. The Summit harnesses technology to help share and gather community learning (via video, online, blogs, social networking).

We are organizing several *new* types of events for Imagine Miami. Learning Exchanges will showcase particularly collaborative and innovative civic projects. Presenters will share and discuss challenges and opportunities, lessons learned, and ideas for future projects. At our Issue Forums, local entities focused on a particular issue will share perspectives, challenges and opportunities related on key issues, such as public safety. We will use creative techniques to help presenters brainstorm with participants (including artists, connectors, etc.) on ideas for collaborating on specific projects and campaigns to build public awareness, educate community members and promote civic engagement. We will also offer hands-on workshops offer training on techniques for civic engagement (e.g., blogging).

What we hope to get out of We Media 08 is the possibility to increase our impact by sharing and learning about best practices — doing our own “civic networking,” and by identifying potential developers of and investors in our own unique “civic networking” site.

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Having started out this week as iFOCOS’s new part-time communications editor, I sat down with Dale and Andrew to ask some probing questions about the upcoming We Media 2008 conference in Miami.

I wanted to know from Dale, in all honesty, “Why should someone attend this conference?” I pointed out there are one-thousand-and-one interesting conferences these days, but none of us have the time, money, boss-buy-in or significant-other-permission to attend every single one.

If we can only attend, say, one conference a year, doesn’t it make sense to attend an industry-specific one? Why prioritize getting together with a bunch of people in Miami who work in completely different sectors?

“Because we need inspiration,” answered Dale. “And inspiration comes from making connections and sharing ideas across boundaries.” Dale pointed out that the traditional news media is a perfect example of what happens when you keep your head stuck in the sand of your own industry. If, say, the New York Times Co. had come up with a Craig’s-List-style online venue for posting classifieds, for example, they might be in a lot better shape than they are right now.

And where do ideas come from? Dale and Andrew wanted to convince me that ideas come from inspiration. And what’s the best way to find inspiration? Well, from other energetic, ambitious, thoughtful people, put in an atmosphere of festival.

This point made me think about John Kao’s most recent book, Innovation Nation, in which he argues that America is falling behind when it comes to innovation. So if America’s economic strength depends on innovation, and innovation depends on inspiration, and inspiration depends on mixing with thought leaders in different sectors, then it’s almost a national duty to attend We Media Miami. Register now — your country needs you!

But what Andrew didn’t want me forget is this: The conference is not just about what he called “competitive intelligence gathering,” stumbling across a great idea that will drive your company forward. “It’s a celebration,” he said. “It’s a festival.”

Of course using words to convey a sense of fun is difficult, and maybe that’s why Dale mixed his cool video about last year’s conference. The music really says it all.

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It’s a widely used open-source blog platform with enormous potential for future growth and evolution - and some think it’s a viable alternative to Facebook-style social networking. (It’s running this site).

Analysis: News companies remain painfully focused on their internal woes and remarkably disengaged from investments in innovative new opportunities. The New York Times Co., which purchased About.com several years ago, can’t compete against News Corp. or other giants for high profile mega-deals. It may wind up being acquired in such a deal. But like other newspaper companies it can use its cashflow and capital for shrewd strategic investments focused on the distributed, networked information and creation culture (as opposed to the closed one-way monopoly markets of old).

Source: NYTimes.

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You could and probably should dive into Jeff Jarvis’s reports from this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, where the theme is Innovation. I  found his report on an exchange between Al Gore and Google Foundation head Larry Brilliant extraordinary in revealing the amoral flaw of Google’s famous "do no evil" mantra. Moderator Thomas Friedman of The New York Times asks Brilliant what Google is doing to help influence the response to global warming. Brilliant says that Google’s role is to get information to people, as much information as they can.

Gore replies from the audience: “That’s the way the world used to work. The world doesn’t work that way anymore." Gore implies a theme he outlined in much greater detail at our very first We Media conference - that the nature of public discourse is strangely disconnected from the challenges society should be confronting. At the time the context was the bizarre disconnect between what news reports told the world about weapons of mass destruction and the rationale for the invasion of Iraq - and the truth (oops, no WMDs, sorry). The provocative question Gore is obviously still thinking about: What should media companies with enormous influence on public opinion and policy - including Google - do to make sure we have access not simply to lots of information, but to the most important information - and that we don’t simple access it but do something about it?

Meanwhile, back on earth … you could and probably should also check out what’s really been on people’s minds (more than 25 million views on YouTube): Soulja Boy Tellem - How to Crank That - INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO!

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Bring your new business or product idea to We Media Miami and pitch it to the leaders and innovators of the connected society. Get your 10 minutes in front of a panel of experts who can help you bring your idea to life.

Here’s what you need to know: Application deadline is Noon ET Tuesday, February 5.

PITCH IT!
Founders and would-be entrepreneurs pitch their big ideas for We Media products, services and projects to a panel of experts in launching and sustaining new ventures.

We’re looking for:

• Projects that use media and communication technology.

• Early-stage startups or projects in the planning stages with well-developed plans for building and sustaining the project.

• Traditional venture startups, social entrepreneurs and non-profits are welcome.

A panel of judges will select a “Best of We Media” winner. This best-pitched project will earn an automatic “finalist” status (but no guarantee of selection) among applicants for LaunchBox08, a 12-week intensive business accelerator program, and a fellowship to return for We Media 09 to report on your progress.

To present your new product, service or project, send an e-mail to info AT ifocos.org, with:

I. “Pitch It Application” in the subject line.

II. Your name, title, organizational affiliation and contact information including mailing address and phone number at the top.

III. Your project or product title

IV. A statement of no more than 500 words that clearly answers the following questions:

1) What’s the project called, and what does it do?

2) Who will use it, and why will they use it?

3) What’s the status? Do you have a demo, mockups or live demo? Have you raised any funding?

5) What do you hope to get out of pitching it at We Media 08?

Please also include a topline budget estimating how much it will take to launch your idea.*

Those selected to participate in Pitch It must register and arrange their own travel to attend We Media 08.

Note for non-U.S. applicants: Applicants are solely responsible for acquiring the proper travel documents to enter the United States. iFOCOS does not provide support or assistance for travel visas and other immigration issues.

The deadline for Pitch It applications is 12 noon Eastern Time (US - 5 GMT), Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

Good luck to you!

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Five years ago we boldly forecast the “Digital Everything,” a future where information, communications, entertainment, business, home life, transportation and the interconnected pieces of personal, daily living are conducted in an always-on mediascape.

That future arrived in Las Vegas this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. It comes to your homes, offices, vehicles, and life spaces in weeks and months ahead.

While the show lacked a must-have, wow product – no Apple iPhone or Nintendo Wii – it packed a more powerful punch this year. Most of the thousands of products introduced or displayed in nearly two million feet of exhibition space represented incremental improvements or significant technical advances that enhance what is known as the consumer experience. The aggregate impact is mind-boggling.

Put all the high-tech enhancements together and you’ve got climate change. The products introduced at CES represent billions of dollars in annual sales. More significantly they are a response to, and an indicator of, consumer behaviors in transition. This year’s show is a tipping point for all things digital.

Coming at you: richer information, sharper images, bigger sound and elaborate functionality all designed around individual preferences. Your stuff becomes a signature for who you are. You control an array of capabilities streaming from communications devices, music players, high-def screens, sound systems, cameras, kitchen appliances, game consoles, electronic toys, clothing, jewelry, automobiles, massage chairs and Internet services. All from your personal comfort zone.

And everything looks so cool. The new models seem to have been inspired by the iPhone and Design Within Reach. Black and thin remain the vogue, but stark white environments with bold red or orange highlights are 2008 chic. The marriage of sophisticated form and function in an era that owes to the pocket-protector crowd marks a turning point for digital electronics. Product designers and marketers have applied the Design Dividend – the ten-fold financial advantage that well designed, leading-edge products have over dowdy competitors.

Over-stimulation denies a more temperate perspective. CES is over-the-top noise, hoopla and confusion – a lot like life in 2008. Press releases and briefings come by the hour. Deal-making is round-the-clock. About 150,000 of your closest friends, all afflicted with A.D.D., bounce through the cavernous exhibition halls like balls in a pachinko machine. Amid dazzling electronics and endless arrays of monitors flashing color-saturated images, the shilling is hypnotic. Everyone seems on the verge of a seizure from information overload. By comparison the scene in Vegas’ casinos is positively soothing.

We were all eyes, ears and senses. Through our filter, additional matters of consequence at CES:

Content. Organizers billed this year’s event as a content show and touted partnerships between hardware developers and content providers such as media, cable and phone companies. But the sizzle exceeded the steak. Few products showcased meaningful content or innovative information interfaces. The promise of immersive, quality content that truly enhances knowledge and understanding remains unfulfilled. Opportunity looms for content providers to fill a void in the vast space across digital platforms and devices.

Digital rights. During a largely overlooked discussion on digital piracy at NBC’s booth, ISPs and aggregators conceded the time was right to start protecting copyrighted content at the network level. Digital filtering and fingerprinting techniques are in the works, largely aimed to protect the motion picture and recording industries.

Surface media. The new HDTV screens are ridiculous. You can lose yourself in Panasonic’s 150-inch screen, three times the size of the one that dominates my small, media room. Take back the wall. Light-sensitive panels will project broadcasts, art, photos, video and programmed information, all in high-definition, on walls. They’ll also sense and control environments in homes and offices. Touch-screen tabletop computers will replace coffee tables and those granite countertops in your kitchen.

The wife factor. Women are in charge. Mary Peskin, who has known that for years, immediately saw the influence of women in the consumer electronics on display. CES stats show that women make 40 percent of the buying decisions and influence another 21 percent. The new crop of flat panels from LG and Samsung feature rounded edges, clear plastic frames and red accents burned into the bezel – TVs that actually coordinate with the décor in the living room. The new computers are bright cases, not those putty-colored industrial designs of the past. Phillips’ new line of designer jewelry embeds personal data devices and music players.

A final forecast: I’ll be in trouble come Valentine’s Day if I can’t find the Swarovski-designed crystal pendant containing a USB flash drive.

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Google is trying to grab a bigger chunk of local advertising by expanding its network of resellers - third parties that incorporate sales of Google AdWords into their offerings. See: Official Google Blog: AdWords and local markets

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If you’re planning on coming to We Media (Feb. 26-28), you should register for the conference now - and book your travel. It’s peak season for Miami.

Room block is full

We’ve reserved a block of rooms at the nearby Sonesta Bayfront Hotel.

Group Code and Special Rate: Use the group code 10C35X for the We Media event discounted rate of $244 plus tax per night.

You can make your reservation online: www.sonesta.com/coconutgrove/
Or via phone: 1-800-SONESTA.

IMPORTANT: If you book online you need to make sure you include the dates for your stay when you add the group code.

We will have a shuttle to and from from the hotel and the We Media events at the University of Miami.

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