Social Media and Clay Shirky's View of World Politics

 One complaint about the idea of new media as a political force is that most people simply use these tools for commerce, social life, or self-distraction, but this is common to all forms of media. Far more people in the 1500s were reading erotic novels than Martin Luther's "Ninety-five Theses," and far more people before the American Revolution were reading Poor Richard's Almanack than the work of the Committees of Correspondence. But those political works still had an enormous political effect. (Shirky, Foreign Affairs, 2011)

Clay Shirky has finally made it.  Often championed as one of the modern thinkers of technology and society, but also maligned as a mere naval-gazing pop intellectual who talks the talk, Shirky's recent article The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change in the long-renowned journal, Foreign Affairs, has penned some thought provoking gems about the changing political order thanks the effects of ordinary citizens' use of social media technologies.
  
Social media have become coordinating tools for nearly all of the world's political movements, just as most of the world's authoritarian governments (and, alarmingly, an increasing number of democratic ones) are trying to limit access to it.In response,the U.S. State Department has committed itself to "Internet freedom" as a specific policy aim. Arguing for the right of people to use the Internet freely is an appropriate policy for the United States, both because it aligns with the strategic goal of strengthening civil society worldwide and because it resonates with American beliefs about freedom of expression. But attempts to yoke the idea of Internet freedom to short-term goals-particularly ones that are country-specific or are intended to help particular dissident groups or encourage regime change-are likely to be ineffective on average. And when they fail, the consequences can be serious.

1.  A New Political Science? -  What social media has done is essentially re-write the rules of political science and even the social sciences.  It would be impossible to describe the recent political crises in Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, Moldova, or Thailand (among the many) without discussing the use of mobile media and online tools by those resisting against authoritarian governments.  Such social technologies have mobilized grassroots citizenry and civic grassroots journalism to not only effecting change in the political landscapes in countries, but ultimately bringing down regimes.

2.   What Is Civil Society? -  What social media has down is ultimately breaking down the state's ability to use violence and oppression, truly allowing for a degree of civil society unheard of before the age of the internet.   Shirky views this as a shift in the balance of power between the state and civil society that has ultimately led to a largely peaceful collapse of communist control.  As such, when civil society triumphs, many of the people who had articulated opposition to the communist regimes-such as Tadeusz Mazowiecki in Poland and Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia- became the new political leaders of those countries.  Communications tools during the Cold War did not cause governments to collapse, but they helped the people take power from the state when it was weak. The same should be seen from the power of social media -- perhaps even in a more intensified process.  And we're witnessing that as we speak.

3.  The "New" Public Sphere - The famed social philosopher Jurgen Haberman's concept of the public sphere is being challenged and perhaps will soon be thrown right out the window in this age of intensive social media.   Developed during the Renaissance in Western Europe and the United States, Habermas viewed a vibrant public sphere acting as a positive force keeping authorities within bounds lest their rulings be ridiculed.  As such, the public sphere is a place between private individuals and government authorities in which people could meet and have debates about public matters.  With such critical discussions taking place, they anchor as a counterweight to political authority.  The "public spheres" more importantly, happened physically in face-to-face meetings in coffee houses and cafes and public squares as well as in the media in letters, books, drama, and art. Forward three hundred years, and we’re seeing the physical public sphere turn digital: in the blogosphere, twittersphere, Facebook, and viral video sharing sites.

4.  Communications -  Although mass media alone do not change people's minds, the process does.  As Opinions and ideas are first transmitted by the media, and then they get echoed by friends, family members, and colleagues. Eventually, it is the social network that influences and forms political opinions.  This is the step in which the internet in general, and social media in particular, effects change. As with the printing press, the internet spreads not only media aconsumption, but also media production.  As Shirky argues, "It ultimately allows people to privately and publicly articulate and debate a welter of conflicting views."   How's that for social change?

Have You Been Screw-gled Lately?

Greg sighed. He knew Google too well: Every time you visited a page with Google ads on it, or used Google maps or Google mail -- even if you sent mail to a Gmail account -- the company diligently collected your info. Recently, the site's search optimization software had begun using the data to tailor Web searches to individual users. It proved to be a revolutionary tool for advertisers. An authoritarian government would have other purposes in mind. (Scroogled, 2007).

Canadian writer Cory Doctorow is best known as the proponent of copyright laws that should be liberalized and allowed for free sharing of all digital media. Arguing that copyright holders should have a monopoly on selling their own digital media, he proposes that copyright laws need only come into play when someone attempts to sell a product currently under someone else's copyright.  How's that for digital democracy?

Doctorow is also a science-fiction writer, and a futurist.   In 2007, Doctorow penned a fascinating, but eerily nihilistic view of the Google-dominated universe.  Like the panopticon, Doctorow's short story, Scroogled, is about a world gone terribly astray, where every action parsed directly or indirectly by Google is effectively used to monitor our every action. 

Not surprisingly, there is a search engine that goes by this very title that  Scroogle, a site designed for those who don’t want Google tracking their searches back to them.  Disguising the Internet address of users who want to run Google searches anonymously, Scroogle is a web service that gives users the option of having all communication between their computer and the search page be SSL encrypted.

Think about it: Google can keep your searches on record for up to a year and a half.  It's said that if you do not want a record of all your searches in storage, then using Scroogle's "scrapper" might be an effective method.

Are we living in a paranoid dimension here?   The librarian in me says that freedom of privacy and information is of course central to a democratic society.   Think about it: Google does have an enormous influence on us, although we are only subtly aware of it:

1.  Societal Influence - It has been a mental influence on people that if your search is not found on google it does not exist.  In fact, if it's not ranked highly, it isn't important.  And if one Google yourself (which a lot probably do), it's a reflection of one's "importance" virtually and physically, too.  Think of all the resources that companies are exercising in raising their Google ranking. Think of all times you search for meaning and answers to life, all coming from Google search results.  If Google isn't a convenient magic eight ball, then what is?

2.  Street View - I must admit, I am an admirer of Google Street View, especially when I want to see places I haven't been before.  However, it has also been accused of taking pictures and coming too close inside people's private homes and people who walk down the street not knowing they are being watched on Google's service.   While they were at it, Google collected about 600 gigabytes of data from users of public WiFi stations (which are not owned by Google) during 2006-2010, including snippets of emails. 

3.  Politics - Being the world's largest company ultimately drags it into the political sphere, too.  Case in point: although Mainland China had already enforced by filters colloquially known as "The Great Firewall of China," Google.cn search results were further filtered so as not to bring up any results concerning the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, or websites supporting the independence movements of Tibet and Taiwan, or the Falun Gong movement.  It wasn't until only recently after a clash with China that Google stepped out of placating the world power.   But is Google tempting fate as a multinational corporation?   I guess while we wait for the answer, we should at least give Scroogle a try.

Beyond the Nation-State and Social Media

It's a recent phenomenon: social media is altering world history. As the recent Iranian resistance from twittosphere has shown, as well as the recent events in China, Burma, Russia, Tunisia and Egypt resistance, not even the tightly drawn cloak of authoritarian regimes can regulate what seeps through the social web. Just look at what Wikileaks is doing to open up once tightly withheld information, and ultimately, the political order.

Don Tapscott argues in Macrowikinomics, that we have entered the age of "beyond the nation state." Microfinancing, virtual activism, and global agenda partnerships via the social web are but a few developments that are breaking down the nation-state's grip, and challenging the very notion of its importance to its citizens. Non-governmental organizations (NGO's) are clearly gaining legitimacy and relevance, even by nation-states. NGO's have become effective change agents. And social media is only intensifying this change.

Vancouver-based HootSuite is one example of how social media is challenging the stronghold of the notion of the state. In particular, social media helping people in Egypt circumvent the government's shutdown of the Internet. Hootsuite, which offers social media portal feed for cross-posting to Twitter and Facebook, is reporting that signups are up sevenfold this month in Egypt, with the most from this past week of January -- mostly from mobile devices.

The company, which offers users a social media dashboard for posting to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, reports that signups are up sevenfold this month in Egypt, with most in the past week and most from mobile devices. Blocking Internet access and text messaging as well as Twitter and Facebook, the Egyptian government hasn't deterred its people from going through proxy servers or using third-party applications like HootSuite and TweetDeck to voice their dissent.

Here's something interesting: although HootSuite users who had already signed up before the Internet are being shut down in Egypt, they are still able to use the service as new users who must register a new account online at twitter.com. Moreover, iPhone users can sign up for new HootSuite accounts through the mobile app. From all the developments we're witnessing about the transformational change social media has afforded us, it's changing the course of history as well. We'll see more in the upcoming years ahead.

Cross-posted at Smertlibrarians blog.

The 5 Well Beings In Life

It turns out that in between work and career are still important things in life.  Love, work, play.  Regardless of what profession one is in, I think there's often unfortunate disconnect between living and working.   News stories are increasingly reporting people around the world working overtime, inordinately more than the prescribed 40 hour work weeks so prevalent a generation ago.  Reports seem to indicate that people are turning into workaholics.   In the follow up to their highly successful Strengthfinders 2.0, Tom Rath and Jim Harter's Wellbeing is really about how to reverse all that -- how to live a happy, fulfilling life of love, generosity, and gratitude. Though their findings, the authors argue that there are five key essential ingredients.  I think these words of advice (and research) indicate some lessons we can all learn. 

1.  Career Wellbeing - Do you like what you're doing each day?  Whether a librarian, policeman, salesman -- whatever it may be -- people high with marks in this category wake up each morning looking forward to doing something each day at work.  Instead of workaholics, turns out these people actually take more time out to enjoy life though!

2.  Social Wellbeing - More likely to make time for vactions or social gathering with friends and family, these people have several close relationships that help them achieve, enjoy life, and be healthy, as well as surrounded by people who encourage their development and growth.  Positive energy on a daily basis.

3.  Financial Wellbeing -  It's hard to be happy without meeting basic needs.   Managing their personal finances well and spending their money wisely, these people not only buy experiences instead of just material possession, they also give to others instead of always spending on themselves.

4.  Physical Wellbeing - It's about having good health and enough energy to get things done on a daily basis.  Exercising regularly, good dietary choices, enough sleep to rejuvenate, these individuals are able to do everything people their age can do.  Maybe even more.

5.  Community Wellbeing - This trait indicates a high security of where one lives and take great pride in their community.  Not only do they want to give back and make a lasting contribution to society, there is a sense of engagement with where a person lives.  This is what separates a good life from a great one.

Librarian 2.0?

It seems to have died down: the Library 2.0 mantra.  For a while, controversy abound over the appropriate usage of Library 2.0, so much so that Wikipedia threatened to take it down altogether.  Many argue that such a term diminished the profession while others charge that Librarian 2.0 rejuvenates what is a lagging field in an increasingly interconnected digital world.  Australian librarians Helen Patridge, Julie Lee, and Carrie Munro have recently come out with an ethnographic analysis, "Becoming 'Librarian 2.0': The Skills, Knowledge, and Attributes Required by Library and Information Science Professions in a Web 2.0 World (and Beyond)."

The authors' methodology is simple: focus groups of about 81 librarians to discuss what they think defines "Librarian 2.0."  Although diverse, the answers are unnervingly clear and concise.


1.  Technology - There is a difference between IT skills an IT appreciation skills.   Librarian 2.0 should be a role model, not in being an "elitist" in terms of technology, but as a credible source for understanding and imparting knowledge of new technological developments.  They are plugged in, but can easily walk away from it, too.


2.  Learning and Education - Willing to grow with the job, librarian 2.0 in the web 2.0 world is interested in what is happening around them, and scan the horizon and are aware of the outside world.


3. Research and Evidence Based Practice - An essential element, research is a way for librarian 2.0 to be making best decisions, best practices, and establishing benchmarks.


4.  Communication - Good at negotiation and diplomacy, librarian 2.0 should be able to use whatever "language"is needed to persuade or influence the target audience to their point of view.


5.  Collaboration and Teamwork - Is about building relationships and partnerships while establishing networks with individuals and groups wherever it is needed.


6.  User Focus - Interested in creating communities, they are driven by a focus on people, not resources.


7.  Business Savvy - Entrepreneurial, they are know how to get things done -- they go out and seek business


8.  Personal Traits - Adaptable, flexible, persistent, and resilient

Super-Connectors?

As librarians and information professionals, we've been strangely attacked within the past decade about web 2.0's necessities to "connect" with users and to "outreach" to our constituencies about our usefulness.  As a result, we've been busily preparing for the onslaught by integrating our working minds into social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.   Has it worked?   For the most part, it's helped align ourselves to the (albeit digital) world.   But other than that, there's been a lot of chatter that such social media tools have been just librarians talking to other librarians.    If that has been the measuring stick, then I dare say we've been one of the most active and successful professions in doing so.  And we haven't lost our jobs doing it, too.

Superconnect is a fascinating new book about the strength of connections, but puts the onus back in the real physical world.  It offers a unique look at what librarians (among many others) should be doing: reconnecting with one another.  Moving past just the tight, narrow confines of the library shelves and stacks.  Surging beyond the walls of library-think, and into other networks and spheres. I read this book with great interest, not only as a reference book, but ultimately as a book about humanity which we can all learn from.   Here are some highlights:


1. Strength of Weak Links -  When it comes to communicating from one person to a target in a different world, weak links far outperform strong ones.  Studies have shown that people tend to overuse family and friends, but "underuse" people they don't know particularly well.  It is casual acquaintances that are nine times better than friends at providing the connections we need or giving us useful information.

2.  SuperConnectors - Unlike our prejudged vision of slick, savvy, prominent socialites, super connectors are actually humble folks who just happen to connect with people because they have placed themselves at the centre of a social system, integrating into a number of networks and nodes that might otherwise have been isolated from one another.  Most importantly, a superconnector is willing to "connect" others.

3.  Internet - It's important not because it is a new world, but rather it is an old world.  It's given us terrific intensification of the communication and network that have actually been built decades and even centuries before its very invention. Social networks have given us tools to lubricate relationships, helping us record, organize, and manage our online connections, acquaintances, and memberships.  How's that for improvement?

4.  The "Third Place" - To live an interesting life means also the need to cultivate rich, meaningful weak connections.  The third place is a term which describe locations where one habitually relaxes and spends time.  Regular visits to third places, and irregular visits to new ones, are crucial to renewing and forging these so-called weak links.  Even going to the local park, and being among lots of people can be considered a process of connecting.  How's that for living a rich life?

The Cyberport of the Future?

The Web 3.0 craze has already hit the shores of Hong Kong. Although Cyberport was meant to be Hong Kong’s version of Silicon Valley, it has a reputation for being a ghost town. The 95,000 square meters of office space on the west side of Hong Kong Island is a 15.8 billion Hong Kong dollar (US$2 billion) government-owned project criticized by some as being an unsustainable venture.

In a first of its kind Web 3.0 conference took place at Cyberport. As the organizers put it,

in the world of Web 3.0, the Internet should know I won’t be able to watch my favorite TV show. It should automatically record it and book a time slot for me to catch up on this show. This is an example of how the Internet and Web will become smarter. What is an example of Web 3.0 with today’s technology? Earlier this year, we transmitted live and in 3D the World Cup from South Africa to cinemas in Hong Kong with the help of the Internet.

In essence, Cyberport organised Web 3.0 Asia as part of its commitment to establishing itself as a leading information communications technology (ICT) hub of the Asia, region, pushing Hong Kong's creative digital enterprises and start-ups to prepare for the next version of the web.  What struck me was the depth of speakers for the programme, including: Simone Brunozzi, Technology Evangelist at Amazon Web Services; Jon Leland, President and Creative Director, ComBridges.com; and Kaiser Kuo, Director, International Communications of Chinese search enginge, Baidu.

With this conference, it's becoming clear that the next generation of the web will not be limited in geography, but will be a multiversity of ideas and concepts.

History of Social Media

If you want to work in libraries

I've always asked colleagues why they ended up where they ended up. Each time I get fascinating, but very different answers from the next one I hear. Here's an excellent explanation and reason to be a librarian.

Multi-Touch Technology

Named as Time Magazine's 2008 listing of the 100 Most Influential People in The World, Jeff Han is one of the main developers of "multi-touch sensing," which unlike older touch-screen interfaces, is able to recognize multiple points of contact. Although the use of touchscreen technology to control electronic devices pre-dates multitouch technology and the personal computer, IBM began experimenting with touch screens as early as the 1960s. Over the years, multi-touch technology has seamlessly seeped into popular culture, with Star Trek and Tron being the most prominent. (The Day the Earth Stood Still was the most recent movie which used Microsoft's Surface program). Currently, CNN has been the most innovative user of multi-touch with its "magic wall," which received most of its publicity because of its use by news network CNN during its coverage of the 2008 US Presidential election.

What does this mean for the future of information technology? Let's take a look at Han's use of the keyboard. With new technologies such as augmented reality and locative media, human cognition itself may revolutionized and re-engineered.

Zero History

While much has been attributed to Tim Berners-Lee as the father of the Internet, Vancouver-based fiction writer William Gibson is actually behind many of the ideas behind "cyberspace." Often called the "noir prophet" of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. While the term "cyberspace" was first coined in his short story Burning Chrome, the concept was only later popularized in the 1984 novel, Neuromancer.

Gibson's works have influenced cyberpunk and postcyberpunk writers such as Cory Doctorow. Gibson is renowned for his visionary influence on and predictive attunement to technology, design, urban sociology and cyberculture. While Johnny Mnemonic is the only direct attribute to Gibson's works, many of the ideas he presents in his novels have shown up in movies and popular culture. Yet most ironically is that he had completed his first novel, Neuromancer in 1983 on a manual typewriter. In a recent interview with the Georgia Straight, two points jumped out a me which I think is important food for thought:

(1) Immersive Media - Nearly all of the characters in Zero History and in the previous books in the series are totally at home in this message-soaked environment—not just with all the branding and marketing but with the multiple streams of information from wireless devices and RFID tags and GPS systems.

(2) Twitter Streets vs. Facebook "Malls" - As Gibson asserts, social can be overly structured. However, as he sees it, there is a difference between Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook and MySpace seemed like malls to me, as opposed to the street—whereas Twitter actually seems like the street. There’s no architecture within the template other than a limit on the length of a given post. And anyone can turn up and address you directly. It’s exactly like walking down the street. You might meet someone who’s really charming and intelligent, or you might meet a total malevolent idiot.

Linked Data at IFLA 2010

IFLA 2010 has come and gone. Although I did not go, the presentations are now online, and some are outstanding. Richard Wallis, Technology Evangelist from Talis, had a very interesting take on the semantic web. It's quite the package, with 194 slides altogether. Wallis' presentation examines some of the innovative examples of open data that such companies as the BBC is already experimenting with. Wallis argues that if libraries are to participate in the Semantic Web, MARC records will need to be the first type of library data to be shared with the open web concept.

Using Social Media Sites For Self Promotion

The rise of social media sites, such as Facebook and Digg, has presented publishers with an opportunity for self promotion that has never been seen before. Due to the popularity of social media sites, publishers have a huge group of people to promote their sites to. Using social media sites to promote blogs and websites can be accomplished with no money and just a little time.

Using sites like digg.com, reddit.com, or stumbleupon.com to push traffic to a person’s blog or site can cause huge increases of traffic and readership. Simply posting a link to a website or blog post on one of these social news sites will cause a large spike in traffic to the link posted. The key to using social news sites correctly is to post quality content. Quality content will quickly become popular on these social news sites and will push nearly 100 times the amount of traffic to a person’s site than would be pushed by simply adding a random, low quality link.

Social networking sites, such as facebook.com and twitter.com, are another avenue that publishers should take advantage of. By creating a Facebook or Twitter page for their blog or site, publishers can use the social network’s services to update readers about any updates, start discussions, and increase overall reader activity. Using these social networking sites can also help increase traffic, as people often view things that their friends talk about and are members of.

With a little practice, publishers will find the tricks needed to successfully use all social media sites to their advantage. Becoming an active member on any of these sites for a short time will give publishers a feel for the site and a better understanding of what’s needed to successfully use the sites for self promotion.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to LED TV.

I enjoy thoughts and ideas from innovative web experts. James Mowery is one of them. A technology and social media journalist currently residing in Windsor, VA, James has been awriter for Mashable, CMSWire, and Performancing. I'm fortunate to have him as a guest blogger. If you're interested, please drop me a line, too.

The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet?

Since the time of Alvin Toffler, there have always been futurists who predict the paradigm shifts of technology and society. Recently, Chris Anderson (author of the Long Tail), challenged conventional wisdom of the web, arguing in the Wired article, The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet, that the web will become obsolete as it is replaced by newer technologies, namely mobiles such as the iPhone App.

1. Web is a shared memory -- We shouldn't see it as a technology, but more of an experience. Arguing for the death of the web is akin to record is dead, long live the cassette. It's rather shortsighted to view one format as the be all of anything. - and I don't think the app is the answer. It's the music that we're after, not the format.

2. Data is the Web - Anderson seems to suggest that the mobile is the is the way to go. Unless phone and internet companies are willing to lower the costs and expand to unlimited bandwidth, most people are still going to have to rely on the web to surf and to download. The web is more than just an "application." It's the circulation system that allows for exchange of information to happen.

3. Ubiquity of the Web Experience - If Anderson is to suggest that the web is dead in the sense that users no longer need to sit at their desks in order to enjoy the web experience, then it's a foregone conclusion. We already are mobile with laptops and similar social devices. Web 3.0 promises to open up for a ubiquitous experience in which the web is that underlying layer of technology that ties physical real world objects together into an 'internet of things'. If anything the web will be more important than ever in this development. Certainly Anderson makes strong points about the new directions that web has taken us; but for us to claim its demise and irrelevance is bit of a stretch!

Introducing Community Informatics

The application of information and communications technology (ICT) to enable and empower community processes, the goal of Community Informatics is to use information communication technologies (ICT) to enable the achievement of community objectives including overcoming “digital divides” both within and between communities. However, community informatics goes beyond discussions of the “Digital Divide” to examine how and under what conditions ICT access can be made usable and useful to the range of excluded populations and communities and particularly to support local economic development, social justice, and political empowerment using the Internet.

Community informatics as a discipline is located within a variety of academic faculties including Information Science, Information Systems, Computer Science, Planning, Development Studies, and Library Science among others and draws on insights on community development from a range of social sciences disciplines. It is a cross- or interdisciplinary approach interested in the utilization of ICTs for different forms of community action, as distinct from pure academic study or research about ICT effect on the elderly, or those living in remote locations in Developed Countries.

At the forefront of this new field of research is Michael Gurstein, Director of the Center for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development in Vancouver, Canada, which works with communities, ICT practitioners, researchers, governments and agencies as a resource for enabling and empowering communities with Information and Communications Technologies. In community informatics, the past decade has also seen conferences in many countries, and there is an emerging literature for theoreticians and practitioners including the on-line Journal of Community Informatics.

What is intriguing is that in a recent ReadWriteWeb article outlining Gurstein's thoughts, community informatics takes a micro-analytical approach in studying how information affects communities. In this instance, it's found that opening up data freely on the web actually had adverse effects. In one informatics study called Bhoomi: ‘E-Governance’, Or, An Anti-Politics Machine Necessary to Globalize Bangalore?, digitization and related digital access to land title records in Bangalore had the direct effect of shifting power and wealth to those with the financial resources and skills to use this information in self-interested ways. This type of study is a counterbalance to what many have proposed for the open data movement. Will opening up information benefit society or just a segment of society of the wealthy? It is these types of questions which will be important for the next version of the web.