social media

RECENT POSTS

March 8, 2012 | 10:00 AM | By

Massive viral video campaign against African warlord hits and misses

Over the last few days, a video posted on YouTube that aims to raise the profile — and potential for arrest — of the infamous African warlord Joseph Kony has been hugely popular and, in the eyes of many, so simplistic and inaccurate it is likely to do much more harm than good.

Some even go so far as to contend the organization behind the video, Invisible Children, is more interested in promoting itself than its cause:

The non-profit organization has been accused of spending the vast majority of its donations on film production, staff salaries and transport.

You can judge for yourself. Here’s the video, a powerful and well-done short (half hour) film calling for a groundswell, grassroots movement to push for the arrest of Kony and stop the decades of terror fomented by his Lord’s Resistance Army in east and central Africa:

It’s very compelling, but it has also prompted a major backlash from many experts on Africa, conflict resolution, development and foreign policy. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Africa, human rights, Invisible Children, social media, Stop Kony, Uganda, war crimes
February 1, 2012 | 9:30 AM | By

Gates Fdn’s Tweets reveal passive, insular global health community

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is hosting a number of events today in anticipation of the opening of the philanthropy’s new public visitor center. Social media, and media in general, will play a big role in it.

If they use Twitter or Facebook to tell people about it, chances are the story will look like this:

Marc Smith, Connected Action

A snapshot of the Gates Foundation's Twitterverse

That’s a Twitter Map (here’s a more readable but huge link) made by Marc Smith, a sociologist who studies online communities, founder of the Social Media Research Foundation and former chief of Microsoft Research’s community technologies group.

The map, he says, indicates a fairly insular and uncommunicative bunch of folks.

“It’s mostly just an echoing of the Gates Foundation,” said Smith. “There’s not a lot of response, or engagement. Basically, it looks like people preaching to the choir.”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Science, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Charlie Beckett, Ines Mergel, Marc Smith, social media, Twitter
January 24, 2011 | 8:00 AM | By

Three reasons to pay attention to Tunisia

Flickr, gwenflickr

Tunisia Protest

Here are three reasons you should pay attention to Tunisia:

1. First, a popular uprising — sparked by the dramatic suicide of an abused man — has succeeded in ousting a corrupt dictator. Such uprisings don’t happen that often, and they usually don’t succeed.

This story by Kristen Chick for the Christian Science Monitor is a nice, narrative summary.

2. Secondly, the mainstream media (in the U.S. anyway) generally paid little attention to this until quite late in the game. Instead, young people engaging in “social media” — Twitter, Facebook and the like — spread the word, fueling the uprising and reporting the news.

The UW’s new media expert Hanson Hosein provides a great overview of reports/opinions on the role of social media in Tunisia’s revolution. Also, a freelance journalist writing for Huffington Post says the story of Tunisia is the story of how powerful social media can be in situations where traditional media fail or are constrained.

3. Third, however this shakes out in the Tunisian Republic (its official name), the people’s revolt in this tiny, north African Arabic country appears to be causing all sorts of reverberations across the Arab world.

Already, as NPR reports, students in neighboring Algeria have engaged in similar protests — against corruption, for freedom. And Richard Engel, NBC’s chief foreign affairs reporter, suggests other repressive leaders in the regions should maybe “pack a bag” given what’s happened in Tunisia.

So, there are the three reasons you should be paying attention. There are plenty more, of course, but my point is what’s happening in Tunisia appears to be quite historic on a number of fronts — it may be one of those tipping points.

Oh, and for those of you wondering why this “Jasmine Revolution” appears to have worked while the so-called Twitter Revolution in Iran didn’t, here’s an interesting perspective by author Mahmood Delkhasteh on HuffPo.

FILED UNDER: Politics, Arab revolt, revolution, social media, Tunisia