Techophilia and Social Progress

How can your business or nonprofit leverage Web 2.0 strategies to deepen your engagement with customers, win new fans, and position yourself for explosive growth? Marketing strategist Dorie Clark interviews Phillip Djwa of Internet strategy and development firm Agentic. In this interview, you’ll learn the most common mistakes businesses make with their websites (and how to avoid them), the mechanics of “going viral,” how you can take advantage of hot trends such as geolocation and mobile, and tips you can employ right now to make your website better and more effective.

Hear the interview

I’m really disappointed that my Alma Mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has decided to continue banning video artist Wafaa Bilal’s show at the RPI arts dept. Giving various reasons, the administration, led by President Shirley Ann Jackson (whom I had hoped would be more progressive) has closed the show. It opened again at http://www.mediasanctuary.org/ but was closed after one day by the city of Troy citing some bylaw infraction. Clearly, they are trying to prevent Wafaa’s message getting out. Ironically, he is a pacifist. The only aspect that is good about this censorship is that it is at least generating discussion about Free Speech. But hey, wouldn’t you have thought that was already something we could agree on??

I saw a youth video on the weekend at a conference and I was struck as we all applauded that while it was cool that they could use the videocamera and editing tools, it was clear that the message was one of violence. Not intense, but more the “wanna-be gangster”…. We’ve been working with youth for the past few years, and the last two years we’ve been teaching a lot of digital literacy skills. But I realize that is only one side of the coin. What we also need media literacy as well. First off, sensitizing them to violence and the unreality of the gang culture that’s put out in a lot of music that the youth I work with love to listen to. Youth have to understand how to decode media so they can create responsibly the messages and stories they want to convey. I read a sad story of a Labrador community where the youth believed the TV “Friends” lifestyle was possible in the “big” cities. I read in some article that the actual value of the supposed New York Friends’ lifestyle was in the millions. Even youth here when they come to Vancouver, somehow think that the world they encounter in television is actually here for them. This isn’t too say that it is impossible to reach, but if you think that the streets are paved with gold in Vancouver, you aren’t likely going to want to stay around home in Terrace…

I had the opportunity to be a part of a Broadband Symposium in Haida Gwaii in Nov 07. It was organized by Art Lew of the Community Futures there. It was a great opportunity to hear from a large group of experts about the opportunities and challenges for communities that have high speed Internet. Haida Gwaii is just in the process of being hooked up, courtesy of TELUS, the BC Gov’t and GwaiiTel, a local not-for-profit group that is working to connect the last mile.

Here’s some of the presentations, including mine.

• Phillip Djwa – The Future of Work (880KB)
• Jamie Sterritt – Enhancing Community Vitality through ICT
  
• Chris Bywater – Developing and Expanding your eBusiness
  
• Terry McAloney – High-Speed Internet on Haida Gwaii
  

In a recent conference I was dumbfounded when at a dinner with a bunch of friends and conference attendees, someone who I respect quite a bit mentioned that “Jews control the media”. Her friend immediately chimed in, after seeing my face register the shock, said “don’t be so surprised, it’s true you know!” I literally was shocked dumb. How could two people that, by all accounts, are educated and progressive in so many ways have these racist thoughts?

According to this article by a media professor at John Hopkins university, they are not alone. The idea that “Jews own the media” has been around in North America since 1920, with Henry Ford’s  newspaper spreading the lie through the supposed “Protocols of Zion”, through Nixon’s “satanic Jews” diatribe, continuing today with Marlon Brando’s famous rant on Larry King Live and Mel Gibson’s drunken midnight spew-fest, to far-right Khalid Abdul Muhammad’s radio broadcasts and William Pierce’s books.

The idea that a huge industry like “media” could be controlled by any one group is ridiculous. Many of today’s media giants are huge publically traded multinationals. There are plenty of Jews in the media, but then there are plenty of Jews in all industries. Another article does point out that the largest Jewish population in North America is in Los Angeles and New York, which are also the centres of media. While there are lots of prominent Jews in Hollywood, at 2% of the population, it is not ownership!
I ended up leaving the dinner as I was annoyed at them and couldn’t deal with confronting them. And that’s obviously not a great reaction. I was probably tired as well. So, I’ve taken to reading a lot more and I have knowledge that I will be able to share instead of getting upset. So in future I will be able to address this kind of subtle racism right away.

The Summit 2007 is coming up and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m one of the MC’s again this year and because of the amazing work of Bev Collins of the PCNA and the rest of the organizing committee, it will be fabulous. Check it out at 2007summit.ca!
One cool thing was the video summary from last year. John Kerr from Tatlayoko Think Tank edited it up. I managed to run away every time he came around with the camera, but you can see it here in the comments.

Carbon Offsetting has become the choice for people wanting to balance their polluting carbon monoxide with someone planting trees on their behalf. But I read an interesting series of articles in the New Internationalist’s July Issue that really speaks to the fallacy that Carbon offsetting is actually making a difference. In fact, it is giving a reason for a lot of people to continue polluting – just plant some trees. But planting trees as a carbon offset is only a *temporary* carbon storage not permanent and of course is only as good as long as the tree lives, which is sometimes a problem with the widescale planting – many of the trees die.

Anyway, read the articles for yourself, but I think the message is that Carbon Offsetting is a nice idea, but isn’t truly addressing the issues and is giving a convenient way out for people to continue polluting…

Here is a great quote from an article read today at http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2006/10/17/GooTube/ that is discussing the aggregation of social networking sites by large corporate interests:

Imagine progressive organizations making smart deals with a variety of providers to carry this content deep in the heart of the digital distribution system. Imagine nimble, creative enterprises willing to experiment with new business models. Imagine having the courage to go beyond foundation grants and pledge drives and becoming adept at paying your own way. Imagine developing socially responsible advertising that respects personal privacy, is transparent about how data is collected and used, allows consumers to opt out of immersive experiences, fosters independent identity, builds community and supports social justice.

Can I imagine? This would be close to Nirvana as we want alternatives to the mainstream news we read everyday. But I don’t think a lot of progressive organizations are moving as fast as the large corporations. We need to figure this out fast or risk being yet again left out.

Here’s an interview I did with Rob Cottingham a few months back and finally have edited and posted. Rob is a great speaker and talks with me about a wide range of things – from the “do’s and dont’s” of speechwriting to advice for not-for-profits getting into technology. You can check out the invu here (mp3 9mins 4MB) or Rob at socialsignal.com.

One point that he makes that I really believe is important for people to hear is the idea that organizations should “walk before they run” in terms of using technology. Don’t create a huge monster of a content-hungry site before you have the discipline and rigour required. Rob’s suggestion on how to initially get going is to try a blog first as it is very easy to create and very low on the time required.

I had a great conversation yesterday with a potential partner that really sparked some thinking about “home” – what is it and what does it mean? A habitat, dwelling, home base, house, family, a country, nation or province. It’s a place with roots, where someone flourishes, a residence, a home where you feel comfortable.

Home is almost a mythical notion – the idea of a place from which you emerge into the world. A childlike notion where you are safe and free from desire. Secure and comfortable. But what if its where you are scared… like homeless, nationless, lost or alone? How do you find a home if you never have had one?

And what about my world – the digital world? We have “home” pages where things begin. The start – the fixed place from where all things web begin. A mount point for disk drives, a corner of the screen, a button to move the cursor to the start of the line…

The notion of home is such a rich metaphor and a deep vein of discovery. Stay tuned!