Yeah. So rumor has it that my good friend Arieanna Schweber and I will be sharing our insight of a total combined more than a decade expertise in how to build strong online communities. At Northern Voice 2011, Arieanna and I will be walking you through some of the basics (and some of the not-so-incredibly-basic) things that having a robust online requires. Hopefully you will be able to attend our session. Northern Voice is an awesome conference on blogging and I really, really would love that more people attended as it’s a fantastic way to build communities OFFLINE.

Related posts:

1. Northern Voice 2011 Communities That Rock Panel and E-Book
2. Happy birthday, @Arieanna
3. Growing Robust Online Communities with WordPress (WordCamp Victoria 2012) #wcv12 #yyjWordCamp

Alexandra Samuel at Northern Voice 2010 (Credit: Gus Fosarolli)

Alex Samuel on coping with Social Media

(05/08/2010)

  

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12:56

My liveblog of Alexandra Samuel, PhD on “Coping with Social Media” will not include Twitter to avoid problems with Cover It Live. Saturday May 8, 2010 12:56

1:04

Alex had the experience of being frustrated with having to cope with social media. Suddenly, every day she turned on Facebook, Twitter, confronted with so much information, and the sense that she can’t keep up, she had an experience of being overwhelmed. Strategies not so much for coping WITH social media, but a way of turning social media into a coping mechanism, a way to cope with the web and the information overload, and making life easier. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:04

1:05	First confession – Alex is a fairly anxious person. She had to confess that she spent a lot of time worrying about what she doesn’t do OFFLINE. Twitter makes you aware of the things you’re not doing offline. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:05

1:05	Before Twitter, people went to parties that Alex didn’t get invited to, and she wasn’t aware of that! Saturday May 8, 2010 1:05

1:06	Columns are your best friend. You organize your friends. According to how they relate to you. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:06

1:07	She has created a list of people who are interesting and NOT in the field of social media. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:07

1:09	These strategies are helping Alex ground herself because it ties into the relationships she cares about. On a similar vein, Alex has structured how to work with Facebook. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:09

1:10

Alex has a list on Facebook for WTF – I have no clue who this person is but I probably need to know who they are. I also triage my news feed. So she hides the people who she doesn’t need to pay so much attention on a day to day basis. What she is moving towards use it to have conversations with people she loves. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:10

1:12	For Alex, part of the reason why she got into social media and social networking sites, she loves to write. She stopped going to look at her Google Reader. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:12

1:14

Alex had stopped consuming news. So now she uses iGoogle, a personalized thing. Not everything that she finds mildly interesting, but in a very targeted way. So Alex has a middle column on iGoogle of news, and a left hand side with her mentions online and her right hand side, social media. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:14

1:14

When you start engaging with online content rather than everything you remotely want to know, you have now more interesting conversations, now Alex pretty much knows the major items, because that’s what she sees, so not losing the forest for the trees. Taking the problem of information overload and tri-aging. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:14

1:15	Alex says that she has the world’s handwriting.  She has made the switch to just putting all her notes on her computer, the tool she uses is EverNote. Everything is on the web. You take the notes wherever you are.   Saturday May 8, 2010 1:15

1:17	Alexandra is unable to resist forms. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:17

1:17	She signs up for so many freaking betas. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:17

1:18	Alex is now talking about GMail and consolidating her emails, using Filters and Folders. Her strategy is to create a bunch of different labels, and to use those labels. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:18

1:19	She has an “external CC” inbox. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:19

1:21	Alex uses IMAP to map and mirror her email structure on her external mail application, etc.  Saturday May 8, 2010 1:21

1:23	Alex can deal with her Inbox within 24 hours because she needs to get to the bottom of that pile on a regular basis, it’s been very transformative. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:23

1:24	Alex has become so much more decisive. It has spilled over to other parts of her life, and frankly she’s become much more decisive in allowing herself to say NO to things. More disciplined. Saturday May 8, 2010 1:24

1:27

The truth is pretty much everyone Alex knows, the web exacerbates our insanity? We’re totally hooped. Alex is challenging us to take the “gut level” test – if having an email in your INBOX means that you feel a knot in the gut, then it’s time to take control over again. You can use these tools, if you decide to put your experience first and whatever everyone else does Saturday May 8, 2010 1:27

1:28

 

 

Related posts:

1. Lisa Johnson and Kirk LaPointe Journalism and Social Media #nv10 Liveblog
2. My #nv10 @NorthernVoice panel on Teaching with Social Media w @trishussey @ramcio
3. My #nv10 talk on social media, politics and public policy

Chris Messina keynoting at Northern Voice 2010 (Credit: Gus Fosarolli)

Related posts:

1. Liveblogging Northern Voice 2009 – I’m EXHAUSTED!
2. Northern Voice 2009 – Keynote address: Stewart Butterfield (liveblog)
3. Northern Voice 2011 Keynote with April Smith #nv11

At the core intersection of social media, politics and policy we find the same elements as with every analysis of online networks: information, behavior and relationships. If you are interested in exploring how citizens’ behavior can be affected (and enhanced) by social media, you need to look at information and the growth of interrelationships between citizens and government officials. So, all three dimensions are always present in this kind of analysis.

I am, by training, a public policy scholar. I teach and do research in the field of public policy at the domestic and comparative levels. The last decade of my life has been spent trying to understand why governments chose specific (more regulatory) instruments to govern as opposed to leaving it to citizens to govern themselves (self-regulation). I have been interested in cooperative behavior for over a decade, so it is only natural that the use of social media by politicians and public servants intrigues me. My talk with have two sides: the positive (or how the world works) and the normative (how the world SHOULD work)

The existing academic literature that intersects public policy, politics and social media seems to be sorely lacking an in-depth understanding of how policy-making really works, and how it can be improved using social networking sites (SNS). Since my fellow panelists have touched on specific case studies at the federal, provincial and local level, I will explore one of several elements that shows promise: social media to encourage citizen participation in the public policy making process.

Social media shows promise in helping governments deliver public services. Translink, the regional authority in the Lower Mainland responsible for transportation, provides timely advisories through several of their Twitter account (@SkytrainLady). The recent examples of the BC Government engaging citizens through a blog for the Modernization of the Water Act are also ways in which social media is being used for service delivery and citizen engagement.

However, given recent concerns on the erosion of privacy, it is only natural that politicians and bureaucrats may feel fear about joining social networks and/or participate in online conversations. The recent case of Raymond Lam’s resignation, the outrage over an Alberta politician’s tweets. The responses that Prime Minister Stephen Harper receives on Twitter. I could easily understand the rationale underlying a negative reaction towards participation of politicians and public servants in social networking sites. That’s from the positive view of policy making.

But from the normative perspective, I would like to encourage politicians and public servants to participate in social networking sites, to explore ways in which social media can be integrated (please note I said INTEGRATED, not ADDED ON TOP) in the policy development process.

In my work, I have studied a myriad ways in which environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) participate in policy-making processes. I have proposed a framework to understand how ENGOs influence the dynamics of domestic policy-making (the first and second order pressure transmission mechanisms, Pacheco-Vega 2001, 2005a, 2005b, 2006, Pacheco-Vega, Weibust and Fox 2010). The abbreviated version of this framework is – ENGOs can engage in direct lobbying (first order pressure transmission) or go through indirect lobbying (second order pressure transmission). The interesting phenomenon that the rise in popularity of social networking sites has generated for public policy making is that it has shifted the balance of power and the trajectory of communication.

Because of the nature of information transmission processes in the online realm, data and facts can be openly, transparently and widely distributed. Rather than being pawns in a hierarchical governance architecture, unwitting recipients of information in an asymmetrical game, the use of social networking sites enables citizens a level playing field. Social media effectively transfers power to the citizens, by increasing accessibility to previously unapproachable politicians and bureaucrats.

Whereas before the rise of social media, one had to write and snail-mail politicians a series of letters, we can now send them a quick tweet or drop a fast comment on their blogs or Facebook pages. Social media has shifted the pressure that would otherwise be second order to a quasi-direct, first-order pressure. Explained in simple English – your politicians and public servants are now more accessible than ever.

In closing, I want to reiterate my quick, back-of-the-envelope contribution to this debate, from the perspective of someone who does at the same time what Randall Ripley calls “policy analysis” and “policy theory”. I am simultaneously interested in explaining why some alternatives are implemented and why specific governmental decisions are made (policy theory) and in providing advice to governments what alternatives to choose. And it is in that context and based on the evidence I have seen in my quick-and-dirty overview of the literature and the case studies that I suggest governments at all three scales (municipal, federal and provincial) to continue to explore avenues to increase public participation using social networking platforms. Because, ultimately, government officials are elected to represent and serve the public. And what better way to do this than to involve the public in the decisions that they ultimately will have to live with? Delivering public services in a transparent, open, just and accountable manner will thus become a sign of a good government.

Related posts:

1. My talk at @BCIT on Social Media, Politics and Public Policy
2. My interview with David Berner on The Power of Social Media in Public Policy
3. Social Media for Sustainability and Public Policy

Government 2.0: Politics, Policy and Social Media in Canada: A Multi-Level Exploration

US President Barack Obama has been touted left, right and center as “the social media president”. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a Twitter account, yet fails to engage with his constituents. Politicians, bureaucrats, policy makers and public service providers have been heavily criticized for their inability to incorporate social media into their political campaigns and overall platforms and strategies. Yet, we find a dearth of analytical explorations of successful experiences and lessons learned. This panel will explore how the government at various scales (federal, municipal, provincial) is working towards incorporating social media, what are the challenges. etc.

Andrea Reimer will speak to the political circumstances that led to approval and expansion of social media tools in the local government in Vancouver. She will describe the experience in Vancouver with social media, open government and a number of other initiatives she has championed. Andrea’s work was instrumental in having Vancouver approve the open data initiative.

Ian Capstick brings bring a perspective from Ottawa (federal implications) and as a citizen who organizes in-person open source events and consultations which almost always start as a reaction to a need from digital grassroots.

David Hume will share his experiences as the government of British Columbia’s first-ever Executive Director for Citizen Engagement in BC’s Ministry of Citizens’ Services and the lessons that this provincial government has learned from the past 12 months.

Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD will describe his experiences as the editor of BCVote.ca (a pluralistic, non-partisan aggregator) during the BC Premier election of 2009. He will also aim to provide an analytical framework that can be used to outline best practices of social media use in public policy and politics.

Our panel will take place on Friday May 7th, 2010 from 10:30am to 11:30am at the UBC Life Sciences Centre building and will be moderated by David Eaves (thanks Dave for accepting the invite!).

I organized this panel mostly because of the fact that I teach in a Department of Political Science, that I teach Public Policy (both at the domestic and comparative level) and because a lot of my own consulting work is in the field of public policy. Moreover, for those of you not following at home, I have conducted research on information dissemination policy instruments for pollution control (pollutant release and transfer registries), and online tools are the best platforms for citizens to use these PRTRs to put pressure on polluters to reduce their emissions.

Related posts:

1. My #nv10 @NorthernVoice panel on Teaching with Social Media w @trishussey @ramcio
2. The essence of what @NorthernVoice #nv10 is to me
3. My #nv10 talk on social media, politics and public policy

Last year, I also liveblogged half of the conference, and gave a MooseCamp talk on Raising Environmental Awareness Using Social Media. This year, I am going to submit again not one, not two but three proposals. The reason being, I have now the accumulated experience of an increased number of speaking gigs on social media, as well as my day-to-day application of social media and blogging to my teaching, consulting and research.

The submissions close on March 9th, which if you think about it, is not that far away. So, hurry up and submit a proposal. Northern Voice 2010 will take place on the weekend of May 7th/8th. I do plan to attend even if none of my submissions get accepted.

So what do I plan to submit a proposal on? My friend Darren Barefoot (who is on the committee and will also be weeding out the proposals) mentioned a list of the topics he’d like to see discussed. I am, as I usually do, going to refrain from actually touching those subjects (I love being a contrarian). There are other topics that I’m interested in, and that despite the fact that I don’t actually work on some of those fields, I’d be interested in convening a panel about:

- Social media and crime prevention/solution. A little while ago, I wrote about the potential misuse of social media, and the legal implications of citizen vigilantes. Are we becoming criminals by trying to stop criminals? This, to me, is a super crucial and interesting topic.

- Diversity in social media, blogging, etc. – beyond the usual suspects. This is another topic that I’ve touched on here. Is race/gender/sexual orientation still relevant when choosing speakers/defining who is influential in the social media sphere?

- Public policy and social media – beyond the rhetoric of public participation. This, by and large, is my first and foremost choice for topic where I can/want to speak. I was really appalled at the mis-use of social media by politicians around the British Columbia provincial election (full disclosure, I also edited a non-partisan, pluralist website to showcase ALL politicians’ platforms).

I teach public policy. I have conducted research on public policy for over a decade. I use social media. You’d think that I would have a thing or two to recommend to my dear bureaucrats and politicians on how they should be using social media. And it’d be free! (well, whatever you charge for entry to Northern Voice).

- Enhancing political science education using social media. This is, in no way, my field of expertise. But given that I’m using Twitter, Facebook, wikis and blogs to teach The Comparative Politics of Public Policy and Global Environmental Politics, I would want to share my experiences. Discuss issues of privacy, how easily my students assimilated the use of wikis, problems they encountered, the use of Twitter for fast conversation/data sharing.

You might be puzzled as to why I don’t plan to submit a talk on Mental Health Camp or any of the other social media and non-profits I’ve supported. I actually think that for me, Northern Voice will be more about taking the dialogue further on other topics. We will hold a full-fledged Mental Health Camp a couple of months after Northern Voice.

And this year, even if none of my submissions get accepted, I will still liveblog a few sessions and submit a MooseCamp talk. Why? Because I’m part of the community, that’s why. And I’m proud of it.

Related posts:

1. Liveblogging @ChrisMessina at #nv10 Northern Voice Keynote Saturday
2. Northern Voice and Vancouver Blogger Meetup
3. Liveblogging Northern Voice 2009 – I’m EXHAUSTED!

Yes, that's ME live-blogging using Cover It live - Credit: Tyler Ingram

A month after my first liveblog, in February of 2008, I met Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604), whom as you all know, is a phenomenal liveblogger and has been a role model, a good friend and mentor for a long time now. My second liveblog was a Net Tuesday (where, funny how things go, the central point was Web 2.0 and sustainability, both topics I’m passionate and knowledgeable about). It was actually Rebecca who encouraged me to liveblog that session. One year and lots of social networking events and platforms later, I have accumulated numerous liveblogs (including almost all the sessions of WordCamp Whistler 2009, several of the Vancouver indie/alternative Olympic Games media conglomerate discussions).

Several times, Rebecca has insisted that I don’t have to write word-by-word what people say, and I shouldn’t liveblog out of a sense of duty, only do it if/when I feel like it. I liveblogged a vast majority of the Northern Voice 2009 sessions I attended (I was there both days) largely because I felt it would be important as a contribution to the community at large. Also, I liveblogged several sessions simply because my very close friends were presenting at (including one of the session where Rebecca, Linda, Nadia, Jenn and Monica were in).

I know that Rebecca could very well have pulled off liveblogging her own session, but through time we’ve become very good friends and she knows that, if I am physically able to attend a talk she gives and liveblog it, I will definitely do it (I have done it several times, including both WordCamp Vancouver and Fraser Valley). I like to be there for my friends. And I figured that liveblogging the sessions I attended would be helpful for those people who were not able to make it or couldn’t take notes due to being focused on the talks. Nevertheless (and Rebecca had told me this too), I knew it would be just a matter of time before I got exhausted/sick. Yesterday, I almost had to throw up out of exhaustion. Today, I took a 3 hour nap.

I have several reflective thoughts about Northern Voice, but I can just summarize them as – I had a phenomenal time. Met new people in real life that I had only met on Twitter (and I met Steward Butterfield and Nora Young, both of whom I admire enormously). Had a chance to attend some wonderful sessions. Also, I spoke at MooseCamp about a topic I am passionate and knowledgeable about (social media to raise environmental awareness). I would say that my Northern Voice 2009 mission was, most definitely, accomplished.

Things that I think are emanating gradually from Northern Voice -

- We need more time for each session.
- We need to create/organize a MentalHealthCamp. The topic is too important to have such little amount of time dedicated to it.
- Some people (thank you guys) tweeted that they would have wanted more time for my topic (environment and social media). I’ll pitch that for next year, rest assured.
- Even though these sharing methods evolve organically (video-recording, Qik-streaming and live-blogging), I think next year we might need to split responsibilities and pretty much voluntarily assign ourselves the sessions. Today, between Rebecca and myself, we covered and liveblogged pretty much 66% of Northern Voice sessions (we managed to attend different sessions each time). Tris also liveblogged a lot of sessions (including mine – thanks Tris!)

Thanks to Ianiv who also Qik-streamed, Dale who recorded on video, Derek, Peter, Tyler, Pat and everyone else who took photos all, and to all of the volunteers, organizing committee, sponsors, speakers, attendees.

Related posts:

1. Liveblogging @ChrisMessina at #nv10 Northern Voice Keynote Saturday
2. Northern Voice 2009 – The call for papers is out!
3. Northern Voice 2009 – Keynote address: Stewart Butterfield (liveblog)

Alfred Hermida, UBC Graduate School of Journalism.
Kirk LaPointe, Vancouver Sun
Michael Tippet, NowPublic

Additional resources:

Alfred Hermida shared a BBC chart, a resource that I am linking at now here.

Northern Voice 2009 – How Social Media is Changing Journalism

(02/21/2009)

  

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2:17	Raul:  I am sitting right in front of Mike Tippet, Kirk Lapointe and Alfred Hermida. Gillian Shaw is moderating.

2:18	Raul:  ”Relationships-based media – how social media is changing journalism” by Alfred Hermida (UBC Graduate School of journalism).

2:21

Raul:  Gillian is presenting the speakers. Alfred is going to be all academic. Looking at social media through a conceptual framework, a shift from traditional media as a “many to many”. We, the readers can criticize or follow through Twitter. Media has always been social (we’ve always been able to talk about the news). We’ve been able to discuss it, cut out clippings, there’s always a social element AFTER THE FACT. We have been able to be involved but only AFTER the editors have published the content. We haven’t been able to be involved in the process of journalism. Journalism is based on producing content for consumption. It’s not to produce content for you to mash up and create your own. Social media allows YOU (the audience) to be part of the content creation.

2:22

Raul:  Social media is creating a relationship-based journalism. The model (Deuze 2003) – where can we place social media (Deuze, 2003) – the web and its journalism. New Media and Society (5/2003). Closed journalistic culture vs. open journalistic culture Concentration on editorial content vs. concentration on public connectivity.

2:23	Raul:  Traditional media has focused now on the tension between closed journalistic and open culture vs. public connectivity/editorial content.

2:23	trishussey:  Social media vs Journalism is a matrix of connectivity and openness. #northernvoice09

2:23	Raul:  We should just use social media (all media is social) – how do people consume media.

2:24	Raul:  Mix and match of technologies. It’s a much more mixed up world. Mixes physical and digital sources. We see a lot more of the sharing, more socializing media.

2:24	Raul:  In a sense, for journalists, they have NO choice but be part of social media. Closed journalistic practices with a focus on content is no longer the way forward.

2:25	Raul:  Now it’s Kirk LaPointe’s turn

2:25	Raul:  What do you say in about 6 minutes? A few things, to start – build some sympathy.

2:26	Raul:  We are in the industry of creating news. We translate our endeavours through a prism of a business model. How do we improve the metrics of an organization, economically. We tend to figure out the size of the garden and what yield will be there instead of smelling the roses.

2:27	trishussey:  RT @hummingbird604: My liveblog of social media and journalism talk #northernvoice09 http://is.gd/knXX

2:27

Raul:  That framework holds us back. Also, not understanding the blacktail doesn’t help us. We have seen closely guarded work. We contend with revealing what we are seeking very early on, and quite transparently. We are then sharing the results and we cede control of the work to let them cut, paste, harvest, digg, etc.

2:28

Raul:  The link economy that is emerging is finding us new distribution channels that are going to pay us back. The long tail is quite important. Our research shows that 75,000 copies. Our website has 9 million pages. Social media compels us into a different kind of thinking – small and beautiful models.

2:29

Raul:  Kirk is now describing how the aggregated map works in your favor because the aggregated network model strengthens the whole end result. Now, all in all, – defy odds to build collegiality. To the point he is supposed to discuss – how are they integrating social media into journalism. How are we integrating ourselves into social media (something very conventional into something cutting-edge)

2:30	Raul:  We are still learning, we don’t link enough, we don’t take advantage of the technology yet. Blogging is still one too many. We have about 30 or so people on Twitter. The Sun is doing very well there.

2:30	Raul:  What I like is that we are doing some wiki and opening some of our stuff into wikis, and share and collaborate (sharing our research and let people play around it last year).

2:31	Raul:  Our Public Sector Database had 9,7 million views. Purpose – point to the future because no one can say you’re wrong yet. We always have been able to check a tip from the public. Clearly, our role has moved from a gate-keeper to an authenticator.

2:32

Raul:  We are now being enabled (journalists) as the verificators, authenticators of the information. It’s left to us to let people know what has really happened. We are now curators – tour guides, not really. We are curators – enabling and assembling best pieces for an exhibit. We don’t think about stories right now.

2:34

Raul:  Delude yourself that you’ve won yourself friends. We are developing an approach where we get around and learn about the people who will be sharing the information and data. Build a business model predicated on the fact that sharing all this will enable us to create more value. Television had to figure out that in some cases, people weren’t looking very good in just one camera. So it’s an evolutionary process.

2:35	Raul:  We are very much open to more people participating in the process of creating content.

2:36	Raul:  Gillian says that there’s room for everyone on the table. Now it’s Michael Tippet’s turn. Nowpublic is in the leading edge about crowdsourcing information.

2:37	Raul:  Mike’s talking now about talking about the future of news – we are talking about the future of truth. If you look back historically, there are a number of ways in which we have tried to determine the truth.

2:38	trishussey:  Liveblogging, livetweeting, livestreaming like journalist’s notes, but unfiltered. @gillianshaw comments on new reality #northernvoice09

2:38	Raul:  We have moved to an empirical world (scientific research). We are now seeing that the supply chain of truth has been re-engineered. NowPublic has been exactly around 4 years (launched here at #northernvoice). When they first started, they wanted to build the world’s largest news stations.

2:38	Raul:  Using that model, build your own sense of self and truth. There is a mythology of citizen journalism.

2:39

Raul:  The people who are live-tweeting or live-blogging aren’t your trained journalists. They are generally not motivated by journalistic intent – the motive is start a conversation and have a conversation. The control of the network is in the hands of people, it’s not controlled. The news gathering machine is not controlled anymore.

2:40	Raul:  1970s – (circa) – the old supply chain – event – witnesses – some accounts of it – journalists stitch the story together and put it into a news source which is then broadcast back to the audience, having a clear (er) picture.

2:41

Raul:  Fast forward to roughly present day – the new supply chain – before the helicopter is launched, the event witnesses are uploading content into Flickr, Twitter, etc. All sorts of platforms. The story is made up in a collective mashup… this changes the structure of the story (no clear begin and end).

2:41	Raul:  We now have a global intelligence network where you can find out what’s happening in real time. As a story breaks in this new ecology, event occurs – witness – report – crowd – the event can change in real time.

2:42	brodiedavid:  I see a few people video taping at #northernvoice09 – anyone know where videos of sessions will be available for download?

2:43

Raul:  As the results were coming in, the whole structure of how the story is being told - Citizen journalists are for the most part, just citizens – their intentions aren’t journalistic and they are not trained. Their stuff is not actually journalism. It’s a different product - The content is already out there – what information is already out there - Relationship with audience is different - Narrative structure is different

2:45	Raul:  There is a pre-supposition that journalists don’t have a bias. Can you talk a little about that Kirk – I have never written a story about something I don’t feel very strongly about.

2:46	Raul:  We think that newspapers are going to have a richer context, more depth. There will be a LOT more commentary and an understanding that people have some kind of a frame in basic events. They take their own opinion on the events .

2:46	Raul:  Alfred – evidence-based reporting. As a journalist you can’t know everything (you have a limited time frame) – ask questions – am I missing something?

2:47	Raul:  In the old times we could know how to reach you – now there’s 8 million ways to reach you. How do you like to be pitched now? How do you like to receive media releases/news? Kirk – with chequebooks (joke)

2:48	[Comment From Guest] Live Qik videos #northernvoice http://qik.com/videos/public_search?commit=Search+Videos&query=%23northernvoice

2:48	Raul:  Please note that Ianiv Schweber of NowPublic / Blogaholics is Qik streaming, Thanks to Ianiv!

2:51	trishussey:  RT @suewolff: @lblanken loves watching the bridging dynamics get worked out in the WOW guild. #northernvoice09

2:51	trishussey:  RT @iancapstick: How wld U lk 2 be pitched? “With a cheque book” says Kirk Lapointe jokes at #northernvoice09 “You will find us. Don’t w …

2:51

Raul:  My question – the ethics of journalism and social media Clay Shirky – yu don’t trust the individual journalist – you’re trusting the brand – the value that that brand has – the fact that that person works for that brand – he/she is having a brand behind him/her (the code of ethics). As a blogger you live and die by your content – you don’t have a brand – they have no credibility because they do not have that brand and credibility.

2:52	brodiedavid:  According to @Hermida main difference between citizen journalists and mainstream is credibility of brands #northernvoice09

2:52	Raul:  Kirk – The academic research – 1/2 news stories contains an error, hasn’t changed. It seems to me where I draw a line – where they are transparent and seem to have an accountability. I don’t want someone who is going to carry on invisible criticism.

2:53

Raul:  I want someone who will be willing to be accountable/answerable – that’s where the ethics come into blogging in a big way. Mike People have different expectations about when they read content. You’ll make up your own mind about whether it comes from one or another. The stuff that is flawed or erroneous – the onus is on the reader to be ethical. The onus of ethics is NOT on the writer.

2:54	[Comment From Guest] Clay Shirky is right, bloggers build trust with organic networks.

2:54	Raul:  RAUL’S POINT – I strongly and respectfully disagree with Alf’s point on being backed up by brands.

2:55	Raul:  Alfred Hermida again – You as a teacher/instructor have to be more involved and engaged.

2:55	Raul:  Mike – there is a big challenge to the Academy.

2:55	brodiedavid:  I agree with @hermida but google rank can impact credibility more than anything for those consuming news online #northernvoice09

2:56	Raul:  Facebook has basically removed the communication barriers.

2:56	[Comment From Guest] The reader also has to be critical of all sources, be their own journalists.

2:56	Raul:  Pete Quily – commenting for The Vancouver Sun not enabling links. For some reason – you might want to fix it (good point Pete)

2:57	Raul:  Kirk – Sometimes journalists can be a bit chauvinistic – we have to be a lot more gracious, simply be out there and acknowledge where the material emanated and go about that and let people know. They are linking now to their competitors.

2:57	[Comment From Guest] @brodie I agree with you about Google rank; also Technorati ranking, number of Twitter followers

2:58	Raul:  Mike The future of news – this is how news will be created. The more we invite people the less they’ll ever want to come back LOL.

2:58

Related posts:

1. Northern Voice 2009 – Social Media Mores for the Blogging Couple
2. Lisa Johnson and Kirk LaPointe Journalism and Social Media #nv10 Liveblog
3. Northern Voice 2009 – Nora Young on Buried Hatchets and Better Tomorrows (Liveblog)

Northern Voice 2009 – Linda Bustos, Rebecca Bollwitt, Jenn Lowther & Monica Hamburg

(02/21/2009)

  

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11:41

Monica is starting and describing the swear jar. Introduce yourselves. What year did you get online and your first social network Linda – mid-200s maybe – she was doing research for a project (about bodybuilding, women using steroids). Her first use of Roxyyo. Rebecca – first website 1997 – Less than Jake. She had an AOL IM chat. Jenn – late to the game 2006 – it was Facebook. She managed to avoid the entire MySpace debacle and moved directly on that. Nadia – late 1999 – really cool email addresses (absolutelyfabulous@hotmail.com) - Friendster. Since you were aware before Facebook – personal privacy issues – how does it affect what you put out there? Jenn is very different on Facebook, on Twitter, etc. Facebook is extremely personal. The population in general shouldn’t have access to Facebook (there are my friends)

11:43

Nadia – well, those photos WILL be out there. She thinks that even when you put them out there you have to be aware of the fact that they can be out there. There’s a difference – putting those FratBoys pictures don’t How do you deal with permanence? (Linda and Rebecca) – what’s out there?

11:43

Linda made a joke about “broke as a joke” and that’s still Google-able. They get indexed. Facebook doesn’t get into the index.

11:44

Linda doesn’t twitter anything that her 10 yr old wouldn’t see They are checking their CurseBird scores. Rebecca (2004-2006) – anything pre-Rebecca Bollwitt you can’t really find.

11:45

Nadia – there are a lot of alias(es) – if you don’t want a representation of you out there, then just be careful.

12:01

You can put a representation of you but nobody needs to know the gory details. A discussion on the gender talk. Mostly women used a handle. “Miss604″ for 2 years. Jenn used to just use “jennmae” – because it was cool, fun. At no point she thought that she should use her actual name. You could over-share. There are lots of things that you don’t realize you are putting out there. Monica – how about the online fear about safety concerns? How much is legitimate, what do you make a concerted effort to conceal? Jenn – Location awareness. It only takes ONE person who figures out where you live and creates an issue. Once the information is there, it’s out there. It only takes ONE person to make it an issue. Rebecca – when you go into blogging/a platform – what do you want to share. No matter how careful you are, there is always a controversy – how do we respond to issues/random situations? Linda – the people who were doing the fake Roxyyo Rebecca – Duane posted a Google Map of where he is. All the information he has ever shared, people are really going to find it. When people friend you/follow you – do you make exceptions on your social networks? Nadia – talking about Twitter and Facebook (she was about to say the ‘b’ word – branding). Even though she has friends who are part of the industry (a dinner party with, sit down, talk about whatever it is). Whereas Twitter is a different sort of communication, interaction. She would go to someone who would provide important, useful information. Nadia is very careful about Facebook. It’s more PAST related. There are friends who started there. She pays respect to that part of her personality. Linda – different from personal friends and non-personal friends. Twitter maybe needs to evolve to a place where you can subscribe to different types of tweets. What about friends who are/are not on social networks – do you have concerns about -” hey are you going to blog about this?” Jenn – people (ex-boyfriends/dates) are scared that you’re going to blog about it. — Rebecca – the balance of how photographs are viewed/perceived Linda – the issue of things that are being put out there - the issue of fake Twitter accounts Nadia – For a while now, it was only friends, but now we have to deal with other people who don’t love us – how might you want to approach that once you deal with this industry. MORE QUESTIONS Because your identity is online – mini-celebrity – you’re out there. People come up to you is like wearing a name tag. Is it odd-creepy that somebody recites your life. Nadia – you put it out there because it’s a tool for conversation. A lot of it happens on DMs. She learned a lot about people when she went to the Obama Inauguration. Jenn – she has been noticing that people are noticing her more. She finds it a little odd – she is not used to it. Now Jenn’s Dad reads her blog (which is printed). It’s a lot of adjustment to get used to. People follow you online. You don’t realize how much information you put out there.

12:02

Pete Quily What are things you’ve done online that can help.

12:02

Jenn is speaking to how she wanted to change her handles.

12:04

Monique – censorship of your husband/partner/girlfriend/wife.

12:05

I asked a question about blogging and the online and off line relationships.

12:05

Rebecca – weekends are Bollwitt time – she draws lines and separates family time and private life and so on.

12:05

There’s no difference in me, there’s a difference on when I share it.

12:06

Jenn – she has TWO separate sets of friends – and she does have some separation, their friends have no idea.

12:07

Glenn has asked – would you guys change your handles if you were starting off

12:09

Exposure to social media – will it make people be more or less tolerant

3:04

Credit: John Biehler

Related posts:

1. Northern Voice 2009 – How Social Media is Changing Journalism (Hermida, LaPointe, Tippet & Shaw)
2. Northern Voice 2009 – Nora Young on Buried Hatchets and Better Tomorrows (Liveblog)
3. Liveblogging Northern Voice 2009 – I’m EXHAUSTED!

Nora spoke for quite sometime to the notion of a “new ecology of information”. Given my interest in sociology and social media, I poked around a few sites to try and find more information about it. From a sociological and anthropological perspective, Nora’s point of “it’s not what you know but WHO you know” is more and more relevant in our era of networked spaces, where technology becomes an enabler of interaction and relationship creation. As I have mentioned in previous posts, my use of Twitter is primarily to stay in touch with my friends and create new friendships.

I would have never dreamed of staying in touch with, say, Nora (who lives in Toronto) or Nancy White and Chris Heuer (both of whom live in the US) if it weren’t for Twitter. I have a lot of wonderful individuals (including these three social media awesome folks) with whom I would NOT be able to keep in touch if it weren’t for Twitter, or more broadly, for social networking tools.

While doing some research on the concept of a new ecology of information (and given that my background is in environmental studies) I looked for works that examined the production of what I call the networked production of social relationships – using social networking sites as mediating spaces that build bridges amongst individuals at the nodes of the network.

In my search I came across the Creative-Commons licensed book by Professor Yochai Benkler at the Harvard Berkman Centre for Internet and Society (I tell you, I am going to end up doing a post-doc there or something – I keep feeling drawn to it!), The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Of particular relevance to the concept of a new ecology of information I think is Chapter 10 (PDF link) Social Ties: Networking Together.

The fact that we can now share in the production of information (as very aptly indicated by the participants in the social media and citizen journalism panel) means that the way in which our online behavior shapes the content we produce/remix/cut-and-paste is also mediated by our online and off-line interactions. Bernardo Huberman‘s book (The Laws of the Web) also speaks to the concept of ecology of information.

Attending Nora’s keynote made me me feel again as though I might have a chance to undertake some research in internet and society. I have the training to try and examine social media from an academic analytical lens (I’ve got training in sociology and anthropology so that helps, and I’m a blogger too). Thank you Nora for stirring my thoughts and making me sit and reflect on the idea that yes, social media is there to help solve problems and make the world a better place.

Northern Voice 2009 – Nora Young on Buried Hatchets and Better Tomorrows

(02/21/2009)

  

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9:11	Raul:  Lauren Wood and Kris Krug are providing the introductions.

9:16	Raul:  Kris is now giving the thanks to the amazing organizers – thanks to you all.

9:18	Raul:  Julie Szabo is up to thank the sponsors. Thanks to all of them, you are all amazing.

9:19	Raul:  They are having giveaway prizes, including a pass to #sxsw09! A three month membership to WorkSpace, artwork, etc.

9:20	Miss604:  New blog entry ‘Northern Voice 2009 Keynote Nora Young’ – http://tinyurl.com/cqnyr3

9:20	Raul:  Nora Young is now taking the floor. Thanking everyone for the invitation and excited about the energy.

9:20	trishussey:  RT @Miss604: New blog entry ‘Northern Voice 2009 Keynote Nora Young’ – http://tinyurl.com/cqnyr3 #northernvoice09

9:21	LeftCoastMama:  Nora Young’s key note is starting. #northernvoice

9:21

Raul:  Nora will talk a little bit about the experience with her show, Spark. It’s sort of a case study of what’s going on more broadly on what’s going – a new ecology of information that affects any content creator (blogger, journalist, or anyone who wants to engage in the conversation). We all need to do a bit of a rethink of what our vision and our passion is.

9:22	Raul:  Nora will play archival audio. I can’t record it on the liveblog.

9:22	moneycoach:  Is Northern Voice (keynotes?) being livecast? ustream etc? Would love to watch from yellowknife #northernvoice09

9:22	[Comment From Michael Allison] Nora is playing archival audio of how to use a telephone.

9:23	Raul:  Hard to imagine a time when the telephone wasn’t an obvious technology. When a new communications technology arises, it often changes the culture. With the phone, people talked about what you should say “ahoy” or “what is wanted” before they finally settled on “hello”

9:23	rsodhi:  At Northern Voice conference at UBC campus. First keynote with Nora Young has just started #northernvoice09

9:23	yurechko:  Anyone have a live (audio/video) stream coming out of Northern Voice? #northernvoice09

9:24	andymiah:  at Northern Voice in Vancouver.

9:24	scales:  Listening to #northernvoice keynote by nora young … It’s a fine sunny day in YVR

9:24

Raul:  By way of practical example, Nora talks about how the “hello”‘s work at Spark (a show about technology and culture). Nora and her co-host are both bloggers and podcasters. A while back they came back to get into the dialogue about mainstream media and social media (transparency). They learned to open up the process and looked for ways to mirror them more open leaves, characters of blogs. What would a blog sound like on the radio.

9:25	Raul:  People can follow the conversation back through history. They worked to develop an aesthetic of transparency. Not live, and not perfect. What they do is they let some things that normally don’t appear on a broadcast.

9:26	wmrandth:  @lblanken I have a pic of teaching dial phone from 1920s – first slide in this preso – http://tinyurl.com/6ov4fn #nv09

9:29	wmrandth:  #nv09 nora young on – challenge of translating non-linear conversational reality into the linear format of radio (->with McLuhan “hot”ness?)

9:29

Raul:  Challenges to mainstream media. It’s reflecting changes and how people consume information and Nora thinks about this as a new ecology of information. This is where together indie media and how do we think about truth and the responsibilities does this shift place. 1. It’s not what you know but who you know. We live in an era of socialized information, where information is strongly intertwined with our social relationships.

9:31

Raul:  On Spark, they often use Twitter to create information medium. It’s mediated through the community. At the same time that they request for information, the socialization of information is being picked up all over social media. The kinds of personal contacts you have in the world has a strong influence on media literacy. 2. Collaborative truth – whether we are talking formally or informally (wiki or social media sites) it’s important but not as important as the collective truth (the aggregation, a sum total of what they choose to say about themselves and what others say about them). When you think about it, it’s a really big change. Some scholars have kind of put this like a McLuhan – the network culture of the web.

9:31

Raul:  We are moving from individual perspectives to establishing meaning and collaboration – it’s a shift from oral culture to book culture to web/networked culture. This impacts how we educate each other and impact each other. this new McLuhan ecology of information, highly fluid, affects how we teach our kids about information and so on.

9:32	wmrandth:  #nv09 it is a big change, but only compared to recent typographic book world, not a pre-modern village culture -> McL’s global village

9:32	Raul:  Where is this information ecology going? Towards the end of information scarcity. “Mobi-quity” – being continually connected in the mobile web. 3 billion cell phones. A lot of people access the web ONLY on their phones.

9:33	Raul:  What does that mean for innovations and what blogs look like? It’s a pretty familiar concept. It connects you to a broader technological shift.

9:33	bgilgoff:  @gtoews Me too. Had the greatest conference experience at Northern Voice yesterday with twitter open all day.

9:33	Raul:  We are starting to see our ability to layer the world around us with the information (mixing online with offline) – building up this kind of internet and things. Digital information is applied to the physical world.

9:34	Raul:  So, what happens when you have actual internet connectivity (GPS enabled devices) this means information is everywhere and the web doesn’t need to be global/detached from geography, can be about the local, the hyperlocal.

9:34	hummingbird604:  I’m including ALL tags for #northernvoice09 including #northernvoice and #nv09

9:35

Raul:  The power of number-crunching in the context of local (crime mapping analysis) [there are a number of localized geo-tagged information analyses] – information about their neighbourhood and what’s going around Gina Trapani – Flickr bike. GPS-cellphone – every minute takes pictures – this reminds me of @rtanglao and his mobile biking.

9:36	[Comment From Michael Allison] Hyperlocal content online takes the happenstance out of living in the city.

9:37

Raul:  How do we organize socially? For instance, Toronto has a series of farmer markets on different days of the week. In the summer, Nora’s farmer market was there. There’s tonnes of information about hyperlocal elements. At a deeper level, it’s not just about the technology. All the layers of social organization.

9:37	Raul:  Another shift Nora sees: 3.- Sustainability – it is not the end of information scarcity itself. Nora takes the example of “the ability to access all this information to change the way we consume from buying objects to sharing services”

9:38	Do you believe the future is in mobile web? Is Mobile Web 3.0? Yes, I only read on my iPhone/BlackBerry/Android  ( 20% ) Not sure  ( 20% ) No, I love my desktop/laptop  ( 60% )

9:39

Raul:  You don’t have to be at home on your home computer .That changes the consumption patterns for how we buy things. Jennifer Vandermeer (green activist and innovation strategist). There’s this gap between how people behave. More than 50% people say they want to buy green, but only 10% actually do buy the greener products. You can bridge the gap if you bring the consumers closer to the product.

9:40	Raul:  Our sense of more participatory culture – the fact that people volunteer to do things like blogs, express their interest in green products .Clay Shirky argues that the way participatory culture contributes and how it’s changing the economy is the example of the stock photo industry.

9:40	Raul:  Corporations had to pay. Once you have a phenomenon like Flickr (digital photos whose costs are low) the cost for stock photos does no longer exist

9:41	northernvoice:  @mirandal I think you mean: Ahoy, Northern Voice!

9:41	Raul:  So, this flight of information implies – who the hell has the energy and time to do all of this. People will spend a lot of their own volunteer energy. Simple tools are going to be more important than ever. Elegant mapping and display tools – show information that is easy to navigate.

9:42	hummingbird604:  NEW BLOG POST Northern Voice 2009 – Nora Young on Buried Hatchets and Better Tomorrows (Liveblog) http://tinyurl.com/cp7yfw

9:42	Raul:  What are some of the conclusions? Caveat – a lot of people don’t have access to basic information and internet. We could still say that… 1.- This new ecology of information is social, fluid, implies that we are just starting to see a big shift in the economy and the culture.

9:42	Raul:  Instead of bringing all the students together for a lecture, they decided to flick the classroom. In the class, the students did the homework with the teacher and worked in a more collaborative fashion.

9:43

Raul:  Why does it seem natural to have a lecture in the classroom? You had to be in the same room as the teacher. A lot of models are based on scarcity of informations. What are the unquestioned assumptions about how we live with each other. In the Colorado case, the way the teachers made it a conceptual change (an “Ahoy” moment”)

9:44	Raul:  What are our own “Ahoy” or “Hello” moments. Raises the distinct possibility of different information worlds. The people who read different sources of information – who do you know. You are going to get information from people who already think a lot about you.

9:45	Raul:  When the world around us is annotated with digital information you can pick and choose. It also makes us ask questions about how do we create deep meaning, rather than just links, comments, etc.

9:46

Raul:  Canadians need a responsible, democratic platform to connect ideas and create a platform to connect with each other (a public broadcaster on social media ground). Whether we are coming from a variety – we all have to wrestle with how do we keep the dialogue alive. A deeper truth – the cultural context isn’t obvious, it’s a site of debate, and it is an important debate to be a part of.

9:46	Raul:  There can be no excuse. Balancing collaboration with sustained arguments. It means a commitment to remembering what this fabulous conversation is for, problem solving and making the world a better place.

9:46	Michael Allison:  We need a variety of opinions and argument to avoid what is called “Digital Maoism”

9:47	Raul:  Nora is taking questions – Tod Maffin is asking now

9:48	Raul:  Nora is taking questions – Tod Maffin is asking now

9:50	mastermaq:  @trishussey @jeremylatham Northern Voice has always been that way, it’s great.

9:50	Raul:  I am done with the liveblog.

9:50

Related posts:

1. Liveblogging Northern Voice 2009 – I’m EXHAUSTED!
2. Northern Voice 2009 – How Social Media is Changing Journalism (Hermida, LaPointe, Tippet & Shaw)
3. Northern Voice 2009 – Keynote address: Stewart Butterfield (liveblog)

Related posts:

1. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
2. Northern Voice 2009 – How Social Media is Changing Journalism (Hermida, LaPointe, Tippet & Shaw)
3. Communication Shutdown – Nov 1st (to raise awareness for autism)

Related posts:

1. Liveblogging Northern Voice 2009 – I’m EXHAUSTED!
2. Northern Voice 2009 – Nora Young on Buried Hatchets and Better Tomorrows (Liveblog)
3. Liveblogging @ChrisMessina at #nv10 Northern Voice Keynote Saturday

So I had (what I thought) a brilliant idea on what to present at NV’09 (speaking about my experience coming from not even knowing what a blog was to reaching my current position as a Vancouver blogger). I was going to try and explain the realities behind blogging as opposed to generalized (civilian) perceptions of bloggers as isolated folks who write from the basements of their parents’ homes. This idea was well received by those who kindly offered to edit my abstract and give me feedback, but at the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup it didn’t seem to spark the same fire.

So, I’ll ask you, as a reader of my blog, or as someone who knows me in person and/or follows me on Twitter, what would YOU like me to talk about in Northern Voice 2009? Please leave a comment or feel free to tweet me or email me.

Related posts:

1. Liveblogging Northern Voice 2009 – I’m EXHAUSTED!
2. Northern Voice 2009 is upon us, and I’m going
3. Mike Klassen at Northern Voice 2009