connecting*the*dots

I’m participating in the Technology and Social Activism workshop at day 2 of Beyond Broadcast. The discussion is a bit broad — we’re throwing out various technological approaches to furthering social activism. Yeah, I have no idea where that conversation begins and ends either.

The first solution introduced was SMS, which was deemed by the group as a great technology for early adopters to organize on the fly, but when it comes to the average person or an illiterate community on the other side of the digital divide, it’s non-effective. So we shifted gears and started talking about community-based switch boards as a example to connect people to people without relying on reading and writing, with the cost of entry as low as the cost of a pay phone call. It’s an interesting solution, especially within communities which organize and socialize within familiar real world spaces, such as churches, barbershops, pubs, etc.

We’re now discussing creating a site that presents an aggregate list of social activist’s technological solutions; pros, cons, insight, tips, workarounds, etc. Okay… it’s time to run upstairs to present our findings. I’m months away from launching the interface for The People, Yes (there’s much more grassroots organizing and networking to do beforehand), but I’m walking away with a few tactical ideas for spreading, encouraging and mobilizing community-based citizen media.