Category: social computing
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Road trip! Bringing the #privchat community to Diaspora *
It’s hard to believe but #privchat — the Tuesday morning Twitter Privacy Chat — has been going on for almost a year. CDT, Privacy Camp, and EPIC have done a great job moderating, and the attendees are a great cross-section of the privacy and civil liberties community: non-profits, privacy-focused startups, academics, privacy professionals at large…
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Time for a break
I love social networks. They’re how I follow the news, get different perspectives, stay in touch with friends — and make new ones. When people complain that online connections are just a poor substitute for “real life”, I just shake my head and tell them they’re doing it wrong. And as I’ve argued passionately in…
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In chaos there is opportunity (part 11 of Diversity and Google+)
I’m flashing! Back in 2006, the Ad Astra project proposed a strategy for Microsoft to outflank Google by leveraging its employee base and social technologies. One of the key insights: social computing technologies allow a company to tap into the combined energy of employees and their networks. This can be a huge asset — and…
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The Trend is in the Wrong Direction: Reflections on the Field Trial (part 10 of Diversity and Google+)
Also published on We Get Google Plus, Diaspora *, and G+ For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial, and during that time we’ve listened and learned a great deal. We’re nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce…
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Talk about a hostile environment (part 9 of Google+ and Diversity)
also posted on G+ and on Diaspora* I feel very let down by Google’s behavior. I had hoped to escape the heavy-handedness that is Facebook, but that is not to be. I’ll have a presence here; I have to, professionally. But the joy is gone. — Kathy Gill, Google+ As An Identity Service Is Bait…
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4 Things Diaspora* can learn from Google+
Part 2 of A crucial time for Diaspora* This weekend I received an invitation through Facebook to join Diaspora. I had tried to join Diaspora last year when I learned about their Kickstarter success while writing my book on crowdsourcing, but I couldn’t get in. So of course I was curious and went immediately to…
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A crucial time for Diaspora*
Although we’ve been quiet for a while, it’s because we’ve been working hard, head-down. We’re thrilled to say we’ve built the first stage of a new social web, one better than what’s out there today: a place where each of us owns our own information, where each person controls his or her own privacy, where…
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The double bind of oppression: Google+ and Diversity, part 5
Ever since it launched, Ive spent most of my online time on Google+, and so far am very impressed from both the software engineering and business strategy perspectives. I think it’s on track to be a big success, so expect me to be talking about it a lot. — me, in A work in progress,…
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Why it Matters: Google+ and Diversity, part 2
Over the past 50 hours I’ve lost a lot of friends here, and all of my transgender friends and family and all the older gay activists I was sharing with have all quietly mothballed their accounts. They can’t have their “real” names out there – they work with human rights organizations and do HIV/AIDS activism,…
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Google+ and diversity: A Work in Progress (part 1)
With over ten million users in just two weeks, and plenty of rave reviews, Google’s latest foray into social networking is off to a great start. Ever since it launched, I’ve spent most of my online time on Google+, and so far am very impressed from both the software engineering and business strategy perspectives. I…
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Save the Rave: AB74 improves, SFPD asks for ID Scans and Surveillance Cameras
Two days after the San Francisco Youth and Entertainment Commission’s hearing on electronic dance music at San Francisco City Hall, Hillary posted the amended language of AB74 in the Save the Rave Facebook group. It’s a huge change. Instead of criminalizing all electronic dance music events over 3 1/2 hours long the way the original…
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What’s the best technology base for an activism Q&A website?
An activism group I know is thinking about setting up a Q&A (question-and-answer) site. What technology base should they use? Here’s the functionality wishlist: users can ask and answer questions, vote on others’ answers, and leave comments multilingual and accessible a pleasant and attractive user experience good moderation tools easy to attach tags (or categories)…
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#snubor at #sxswi: The Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights panel at South by Southwest
Great discussion! Kudos to organizer Christina Gagnier, panelists Jack Lerner and Lisa Borodkin, and moderator Alex Howard (aka @digiphile). What next? You can vote for or against individual rights at the Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights site, and you can also vote for or against the entire bill via Twitter. My post here has…
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What next for the Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights?
A broadly-recognized social network users’ bill of rights will be a huge step forward for online freedom and privacy. For me, and hundreds of millions of others, sites like Facebook, Twitter, tribe.net, and free-association are how I stay in touch with friends and family. As Voces Contra Las FARC, Barack Obama, #iranelection, and hundreds of…
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Following the Patriot Act battle on Twitter with Twazzup
ACTION ALERT: Ask Obama to veto the PATRIOT Act, April 5. ACTION ALERT: Meet with members of Congress about the PATRIOT Act, April 18-May 1 Twazzup did a custom Twitter backchannel for Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference back in June 2009, and soon after that became the best way to follow the #iranelection protests. Later…
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Starting the day out …
Am I the only person out there who takes a step back every few months to observe how I’m starting my online and day decide what kind of changes I want to make? If you haven’t ever done this, it can be very illuminating. Back in 2008, for example, when I was doing a lot…
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If She Ran the World She Would … (DRAFT)
DRAFT! Please see the revised version on Tales from the Net
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Social network activism and the future of civil liberties
Also posted on The Seminal and Pam’s House Blend The most recent skirmish on the Patriot Act reauthorization battle ended badly for civil liberties.  Despite passionate speeches all around in the Senate Judiciary Committee public hearings and classified briefings, in the end, only Senators Feingold, Durbin, and Specter stood up for the Constitution. As Marcy…