September 26th, 2008
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(Cross-posted on my fellowship blog: How International Values Shape Communications Technologies)
I was part of the audience at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York last week when Tim O’ Reilly gave an inspiring keynote on using technology to solve real world problems –
Since then, I have heard many people talk about using technology for doing good in conferences and meetups (Microsoft’s ICT4D Conference, Social Media Club DC, NetSquared DC).
I find it frustrating that people talk about using technology for doing good without any distinctions regarding either the nature of the technology or the purpose for which it is being used. Therefore, I have developed a framework to think about using technology for doing good. I understand that ‘technology’ is a very broad term, and I’m only talking about communications technology here.
It’s probably clear to even a casual observer of this space that there are two separate groups discussing using technology for doing good. The first set of discussions, primarily amongst large aid organizations, converge around ICT4D (or information and communication technology for development). The second set of discussions, primarily amongst smaller non-profits and web 2.0 geeks, are around SM4SC (social media for social change).
September 26th, 2008 |
Posted in Social Change 2.0, Social Media
| Tagged with Adoption, Community Telecenters, Disruption, ICT4D, Micro Philanthropy, Microsoft's ICT4D Conference, Mobile Money Transfers, NetSquared DC, Non-Profit Blogs, SM4SC, Social Change, Social Media, Social Media Club DC, Tim O' Reilly, Web 2.0 Expo New York |
August 24th, 2008
Tim O’ Reilly recently noted a “linking in” trend at websites like TechCrunch, BuinessWeek and New York Times, and wondered if linking to yourself is the future of the web –
When this trend spreads (and I say “when”, not “if”), this will be a tax on the utility of the web that must be counterbalanced by the utility of the intervening pages. If they are really good, with lots of useful, curated data that you wouldn’t easily find elsewhere, this may be an acceptable tax. In fact, they may even be beneficial, and a real way to increase the value of the site to its readers. If they are purely designed to capture additional clicks, they will be a degradation of the web’s fundamental currency, much like the black hat search engine pages that construct link farms out of search engine results.
I’d like to put out two guidelines for anyone adopting this “link to myself” strategy:
1. Ensure that no more than 50% of the links on any page are to yourself. (Even this number may be too high.)
2. Ensure that the pages you create at those destinations are truly more valuable to your readers than any other external link you might provide.
August 24th, 2008 |
Posted in Blogging, Social Media
| Tagged with Gautam Ghosh, Indian Blogosphere, Palin Ningthoujam, Rajesh-Lalwani, Ranjan Varma, Tim O’ Reilly, Weekly Digest |
