Broadly speaking, “community” can mean a locality, a school, a vocation, even an entire ethnic group or religion – any group bound by a common interest or condition. It may be small, it may be big. The fact is, we all belong to many communities at the same time. Some even overlap because they share […]
If you’ve been a little bemused or underwhelmed by the goings-on in Second Life (Swedish embassy, Reuters news bureau) this Get a First Life parody will probably hit the spot. First Life is a 3D analog world where server lag does not exist. Find Out Where You Actually Live! Go Outside! Membership is Free! What’s especially […]
Coming from the perspective of both a technology person working on international peace-building campaigns and a professor teaching a video-conferenced course entitled “Globalizing Social Activism and Information Technology,” I have been concerned both practically and theoretically with what it means to build community. Community in a connected world all too often means a broad range […]
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. . .
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 […]
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, […]
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?
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, […]
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. . .