From MySpace, MySociety to MyDemocracyCivil Society Media, an overview
Geert Wissink (Kennisland | Knowledgeland)
October 23, 2007, Het Paard, The Hague
1 | Introduction
OUTLINE
1. Introduction2.Trends3.Web 2.0 as model collaboration and
exchange of value (MySpace)4.Civil Society Media (MySociety)5.The power to the user (MyDemocracy)6.Discussion
Three questions to answer
• What important principles of web 2.0 are important for local government?
• What do civil society media and government have in common?
• What can local government do to stimulate civil society media?
Example wikipedia Japan
Burma protests
2 | A life in the digital age
Storage beyond limits
2020 - Ipod Video can hold all commercial media ever made
Everything becomes digital
137.200 hours video, 22.510 hours film, 2,9 million photos
The web is our online external brain
July 2006 - 100 million accounts
July 2007 - 200 million accounts
Talk of the day
- no 1 photo site in USA- 34 million users
Overview
• The number of bits and bytes is growing exponentially
• We are all into it: we share our photos, music and profiles online
• Our children will have all the information ever made available at every moment
• How to deal with this information overload?
3 | Principles of Web 2.0
Web 2.0 - the characteristics
1. The network as platform, spanning all connected devices
2. Delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it
3. Consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others,
4. Creating network effects through an "architecture of participation,"
5. Going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences.
Tim O’Reilly, 2005
The web as platform
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Overview
• Web as platform• Always in beta• Good metadata is just as important as the
data• Enable mashups
4 | Civil Society Media
4. MySociety: Civil Society Media
Characteristics of Civil Society Media
• Peer production coincides with remix, sharing and reuse of content and information
• Challenges traditional copyright regimes with content production modes
• New civil e-services: not market driven but intended to have value to specific community of users
Digital Pionieers Fund
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Trends in Civil Society Media
• Co- and peer production leads to much de-central professional content
• New online civil society organizations help improve practical capacities of individuals to build online social capital
• Citizens need to be media-wise: otherwise socially excluded
Create media-wise children
• One laptop a child projectQuickTime™ and aAnimation decompressor
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5 | MyDemocracy
Stemwijzer
Politix
Buergerhaushalt Lichtenberg
6 | Conclusions
Principles of web 2.0 for government
• Default to openness (use open standards)• Open your datastreams (facilitate
connections and mashups)• Consider your service as a platform• Web 2.0 offers methods to make current
processes more efficient and to innovate
Stimulate the role of civil society media
• Act as a guardian, not as a gatekeeper• Work together with local organizations to
keep the information flowing• Find out where your audience is,
communicate there• Stimulate and attracts the civil society
media with small funds
Thank you!
Geert [email protected]
Presentation is available on Slideshare (www.slideshare.com), keyword: Civil Society
Media
www.knowledgeland.org