Participatory Media Guidebook - Recently Updated Pages

To-Do

sshein — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:28:24 CST

Better Visualization for Rating Tables
A whole table for all the technology and criteria so a user can go down the rows and columns and see what works best for him or her.
Even better than above, some kind of wizard that can step the user through the various criteria, they choose options, and then come up with a technology.
A Category for Collective Action
Searchability as a Criteria
General Maintenance
Have a page for widget resources, etc

sandbox

gatoloco — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:35:39 CST

Podcasting

sshein — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:50:09 CST

*This page needs work! Help us and add to it!*

Definition

Examples

Why Use It?

Use-Cases

How-To

Helpful Links

Podcast People: Your Online Podcasting Studio

Blog

sshein — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:42:33 CST

Definition
Blogging is defined as content that is regularly updated and broadcast online despite the medium. Blogging began mainly as a text based journals that widely popular on sites such as LiveJournal, Blogger and WordPress. As more bandwidth capabilities have grown so have audio blogs, often in the form of podcasts; video blogs, often over YouTube.com or other video sharing sites; and even photo blogs, over sites such as Flickr. More people are often adding video, audio and photos to their regular blogs as well. LiveJournal is often the home of more personal blogs, while more professional ones have migrated to Blogger or WordPress. As long as a site is regularly updated with posts though it can be considered a blog. Some well-known blogs are run by teams of people who regularly update content, instead of just an individual.

Examples
LiveJournal, Blogger and WordPress

When to use
Blogs are intimate enough to have a high trust threshold, but can also have a large range of viewers. When people see regurlary updated content they grow to trust the author and are more likely to take the information seriously. Good blogs are almost like a conversation over e-mail or other correspondence. At the same time, the amount of people who can read a blog is only limited by server space. It is important to keep regularly updating though, otherwise people will stop regularly checking for new information.

Use Cases
There are several ways to use blogs to bring people together. These are three of the most common types of blogs and ways in which they are used.

News Source:Many blogs come into being to fill in gaps where the media is underreporting an issue or cannot physically get there. Jotman, currently covers the situation in Burma, as well as long term issues there such as the jewel mining conditions in Burma. While it just won the 2007 Reporters without Borders best blog award, it is a blog dedicated to getting people involved with “global citizenship.”
First Hand Accounts:Often a personal view of a human rights issue or war zone can be a more personal window into broader topics that an organization is trying to raise awareness of. A blog like this can be part of a larger site, or stand on its own. Healing Iraq is a blog by an Iraqi dentist trying to explain the problems facing Iraqis from a personal viewpoint, while also disseminating general information.
Multiple Writers:Blogs like these often have more than one author and try to both disseminate information pertinent to a cause, while sparking debate. Feministing, covers feminist issues from different perspectives. It combines original reporting with a round-up of current issues. Having more than one regular contributor makes it easy to regularly update and spend important time answering comments.

Ratings
Cost = $, it’s free to start most blogs, but if you eventually want audio and video that will cost more. Also, some blogs hire designers and others eventually have to buy server space.
Start-Up Time = T, all you have to do is register
Maintenance time = TTTT- TTTTT, blogs must be regularly updated or people will stop going
Complexity for Creators: **
Complexity for Users: *
Broadband required for effective use?: N
Read Accessibility: 3 unless you lock a blog it is publicly available
Write Accessibility: 3 only creators, accept for commenters
Comments: high
Traffic: depends
Bling: 6.5
Blingability: 8.5

How To Use
It can take 5 minutes to set-up a basic account on LiveJournal, Blogger or WordPress. Keeping a blog going though requires a lot of time and energy.

Helpful/Interesting Links

Everyone’s Guide to By-Passing Internet Censorship for Citizens Worldwide
Anonymous Blogging Guide fromGlobal Voices Advocacy
Reporters sans frontières - Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
Global Voices Online » For Bloggers - Global Bloggers, let your voices be heard! Join the global conversation. Help people around the world find about about your blog, podcasts, and other online creations.

Multimedia Sharing

sshein — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:02:41 CST

Definition
Multimedia sharing sites faciliate the storage, sharing, and sometimes creation of audio, images/photos, and video. This list includes a few of our favorite sites. Each has its benefits and challenges, and there is no single site that fits all needs. So, take a look at the linked pages and, if you don't see it, add your favorite site to this list.

Examples & Wiki Page Links
Blip.tv, Flickr.com, YouTube.com, .Mac, and Veoh.com .

Why Use It?
Sites that allow you to share audio, images, and video are booming. The reason for this boom is that it takes a lot of storage space to hold onto media files and it takes a lot of bandwidth to share them. Media uploaded onto these sites can take advantage of their sizeable hosting space to post the media directly into your own websites, blogs, and social networking sites. If you were to pay for your own hosting and distributing infrastructure for multimedia, it would be very expensive and require a lot of technical expertise to maintain. There would always be a threat of overwhelming your system and causing a crash if too many people attempt to view a video, for example, simultaneously.

Use-Cases

See each individual multimedia site page, ie Blip.tv, YouTube, etc, for specific use-cases.

Ratings

To take a look at a summary & comparison of all the multimedia sharing sites, see our rating table.
See each individual multimedia site page, ie Blip.tv, YouTube, etc, for specific ratings.

How-To

See each individual multimedia site page, ie Blip.tv, YouTube, etc, for specific how-to.

Helpful Links

PC World, Top 10 Video Sharing Sites (Aug 2007)
DV Guru, 10 Video Sharing Sites Compared (April 2006)
Fabric of Folly Blog, 20 Video Sharing Sites Rated (Aug 2006)
Animoto
Gcast

Make your voice heard. Sound editing and sharing for multimedia tools.

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder
Free software to edit sound files. Insert into multimedia tool description.
StoryCast Tool Simple, digital storytelling with photos and narration by HP. A tool for multimedia sharing.
10 Questions

An online site that asks your video-recorded and voted-on questions to presidential candidates.

Witness for Change -- Human Rights Video

International human rights video sharing and action site.

RSS

sshein — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:21:21 CST

Definition
RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is an established format for web content. This is a format which many sites subscribe to in order to allow a user to get new content from a variety of sources in a single site or program.

There are two different types of RSS feeds, web-based and client based. There are drawbacks and benefits to both. Web-based readers are sites which you use to subscribe to feeds. You then have to be on line to read the feeds. Client-based RSS readers are a bit harder to set-up, but they have the benefit of allowing you to read your feeds when you are off-line. You just has to be on line to download the current updates.

Examples

Web-based
Sage (firefox plugin)
Bloglines
Google Reader

Client-based
Windows: GreatNews, FeedDemon
Mac: NewNewsWire
Linux: LifeRea

Kind of Cool/Different
3-D RSS Reader

Why Use It?
RSS is useful both for keeping your users in touch with your most recent information, and also for your organization to stay in touch with what other similar organizations are doing.

For Admins: If you use RSS format to encode news about your site and activities, it will be easier for your users to keep track of whats going on with your group without checking up on your site over and over.

For Users: RSS is very useful if you want to keep track of the status of a variety of sites that are updated on a frequent basis. Instead of constantly going online and checking to see if the sites you are interested in reading have updated, you can have these updates automatically sent to the reader of your choice. You can then aggregate these feeds into groups, making it easier to read the categories of your choice.

Mixing RSS with Tagging
Another way to use RSS feeds is by attaching certain tags to articles. In this way, you can have feeds for all articles marked with a specific tag. For example, if you want to read all articles that users have marked with “nptech.”
Google also provides RSS feeds for a keyword searches. For example, if you want to have a feed of when a certain keyword is searched for (like the name of your company).

RSS and Multimedia
Feeds also can be made for multimedia notifications, for example if you want notifications of new podcasts or video feeds.

Use-Cases
The “nptech” tagstream: “In the nonprofit world, the NPTech tag stream is a way for nonprofit technologists to share web pages, photos and upcoming events of interest with each other. Anyone can search inside this tag stream or subscribe to the RSS feed of all items tagged nptech, particular users' items tagged nptech or items tagged nptech and any other term. Since being originated by Compumentor's Marnie Webb a year and a half ago, the nptech tag stream has had thousands of items tagged into it.” (from netsquared.org)

Our News Feeds page is an example of how we use others' RSS feeds to bring you ever-chamging information from a variety of sources together in a common format.

Ratings
Web-based
Cost: $
Start-up time (for admins): TT
Maintenance time (for admins): T
Start-up time(for users): T
Maintenance time (for users): T
Complexity for facilitators: ***
Complexity for users: *
Bandwidth requirement: N
Read accessibility: N/A
Write accessibility: N/A
Traffic: N/A
Bling: 3
Blingability:1

Client-based
Cost: $
Start-up time(for admins): TT
Maintenance time (for admins): T
Start-up time(for users): TT
Maintenance time (for users): T
Complexity for facilitators: ***
Complexity for users: **
Bandwidth requirement: N
Read accessibility: N/A
Write accessibility: N/A
Traffic: N/A
Bling: 3
Blingability: 2

How-To
For Admins:
Check out this wiki on Creating Feeds, already conveniently created by the editors of the Media Literacy Wiki.

For Users:
As a user, it's fairly easy to get hooked into an RSS feed. Web-based Readers are pretty easy to learn, just go to one of the websites and follow the directions. Client-based readers take a bit more time to download, but have the benefits mentioned above.

Once you have a reader setup, look for alerts on pages that let you know they have RSS feeds. These alerts are often accompanied by a little orange symbol like this: Click on these to add a feed from that site to your reader.

To practice, you can add an RSS feed from our website. Just click here: Site Reports & RSS Feeds, or on the same link in the side menu, navigate to the tab which focuses on the feed you want, and click on the orange icon in the top right!

Helpful Links

Social Networking Tools

sgerson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:56:01 CST

Definition – Social networking tools are interactive websites allowing users to create profiles and ‘network’ with other users by forming relationships, ultimately allowing them to mirror, communicate with, and potentially expand their social networks online. Many social networking tools also offer other applications, such as quizzes and games.

Examples – Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Orkut, LinkedIn, Ning, Care2

Why Use It? – Users use social networking tools to communicate with friends in a public/performative way (vs. privately via email), display how they’re doing in a multimedia way via text, images, video, and/or otherwise (vs. sending mass text-based emails), find old friends, form groups and communities of interest, meet new friends or friends-of-friends, advertise their skills/services/artwork/etc., engage in activism and philanthropy, and in general, mirror, communicate with, and expand their social networks. There are also social networking tools dedicated to a particular theme or purpose such as LinkedIn, a social networking tool for professional and job-related activities.

Use-Cases – Social networking tools allow users to create groups and applications, which can be dedicated to collective action on a range of issues. Examples from Facebook include:

In terms of groups, Facebook has groups dedicated to “Support the Monks' protest in Burma” and “Lower Gas and Diesel Emissions! Save the Environment!”
In terms of applications, Facebook has an application called “Causes,” which allows users to start and join causes they care about and make donations, which can benefit registered 501(c)(3) non-profits and major presidential campaigns. It is also integrated with virtual gifting; users pay for a virtual product and engage in philanthropy in the process. For example, in a partnership with the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child, users can pay $200 for a virtual laptop on Facebook and donate a laptop to a child in a developing nation.

There may also be social networking tools entirely dedicated to collective action. Care2 is a tool dedicated to green living, health, and human rights, among other issues. Its users engage in collective action with regards to consumption, employment-seeking, and online petitioning, for example.

Ratings
Cost: $$ (social networking tools involve a lot of client-server exchanges, making a relatively fast connection desirable)
Start-Up Time: TTT
Maintenance time: TTT
Complexity for Creators: **
Complexity for Users: **
Broadband required for effective use?: Y (hence $$)
Read Accessibility: 2
Write Accessibility: 3
Traffic: 10
Bling: 4 (note: large range, e.g. Facebook has approx. 60 million users vs. Care2 has approx. 8 million users)
Blingability: 7 (note: large range, e.g. MySpace allows for much more user customization than Facebook)

How-To – Register for an account, create a profile, and start networking.

Helpful Links
Social networking tools:

Facebook

Facebook group for Participatory Media and Collective Action

MySpace
Friendster
Orkut
LinkedIn (social networking tool for professional purposes)
Ning (create your own social networking tool)
Care2 (social networking tool for social change)

Social networking tools as pmca:

In online worlds, the thought and the gift are social currency (article in SFGate)

Wikis

Devin_Blong — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:53:51 CST

Definition
Wikis are dynamic web pages that may be edited by users. Editorship can be open to anyone or certain members, as designated to the admin. Wikis can be either entire sites, or parts of a site. Many wikis offer a form of layout code different from html, and many offer “wysiwyg” (what you see is what you get) editing interfaces. Most wikis offer a page that can be edited along with a connected “talk page” for discussion about what should be on the page in question. The best known example of a wiki is the aptly named Wikipedia. Those who wish to see the simultaneous best and worst that wikis are capable of are suggested to have a look at it.

Wikis really are one of the best ways to create collaborative documents, as everyone is always looking at the same version. Wiziwig wikis require little coding knowledge, allowing anyone to make a site quickly. Having a wiki also makes a statement about a commitment to user involvement in the site process. Also, many free options exist, making wikis a free, quick, and easy method of collaboration. Due to this fact wikis should be considered by anyone planning a serious collaborative effort.

However, while anyone can quickly hammer out a wiki page, to do it really well requires knowing either HTML or leaning the wiki code, aswysiwyg interfaces are almost never perfect. Further, since some pages do not offer html editing options, this can mean learning another tagging structure. The largest problems, however, come from the nature of the medium. A page is only as good as the sum of its contributors, meaning that since everyone can help out, anyone can be detrimental. Mostly because of this fact, there can be a prejudice against wiki pages among those searching for serious information, information on wikis as unreliable.

Examples
Wikipedia (existing wiki site)
PB wiki (free wiki hosting)
Wet Paint (free hosting)
Socialtext (paid hosting or host yourself)
Mediawiki (free program, host yourself),

Why Use It?
Wikis offer interesting opportunities for collaboration as they can be used in a number of ways. They can be used as a space for discussion, with users adding their thoughts directly. Wikis can also be used as a space for knowledge sharing, as well as for direct collaborative creation of documents.

Ratings
Cost: $ - $$$$, Many free pre-hosted options exist, but other versions require users to run the software on their own servers.
Start-Up Time: TT-TTTT, Even the simplest require a registration, and some sort of framework to let users know how the discussion will follow is a good idea. Programs that require a server will require much greater set-up time.
Maintenance time: T- TTT, varying amounts of administrative intervention and cleanup are required, depending on user conduct.
Complexity for Creators: **-***
Complexity for Users: *-**
Broadband required for effective use?: N
Readability: Set by Admin
Writability: Set by Admin
Traffic: depends
Bling: 5-9
Blingability: 7-9, while the content of wikis are extremely easy to edit, different programs will give different options as to layout editing, with many offering very few options.

How-To
There are two main options to consider when utilizing a wiki. The first is to use wiki software to host it on a server. Both free and pay options exist, see individual documentations for system requirements. However, both require you to own or rent a server, a cost that must be taken into account. The second option is to take advantage of one of the wiki hosting sites available online.

During the creation process, creators are prompted to choose control levels to determine who will be able to edit the page, ranging from invitation only to anonymous editing by any visitor. Some sites will offer different page templates.
Most wiki programs feature pages that can be edited and created by those capable of editing the site, “discussion” or “talk” pages for discussing the content of these pages, and revision histories for dealing with inappropriate changes.

Helpful Links

Wikimatrix: A really helpful online Wizard to step you through the decision of which wiki to use

Complexity for Users

Devin_Blong — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:52:48 CST

Definition of Rating:
If it does not work for users, it's not useful. While on the surface this may seem an obvious sentiment, understanding user experience and designing for target user populations are critical. In addition, it is important to recognize that in many cases users will not expend the time or effort to interface with a system that is demanding of them. It is important to keep these factors in mind when choosing a participatory technology.

Rating Scale:
* no sign up, no sign in and surf
** Registration or payment required
*** Significant time commitment required

Category	PMCA	Rating
Multi-Media Sharing		*
	Flickr.com	* - **
	YouTube.com	*
	.mac	*
	Veoh.com	* - **
	Blip.tv	*
Social Networking		**
	Facebook.com	**
	MySpace.com	**
	Friendster.com	**
	Ning.com	**
	Twitter.com	**
Blogging, Vlogging, Vcasting, and Podcasting		*
	Blogger.com	*
	Livejournal.com	*
	Wordpress	*
Wiki		* - **
	Wikipedia	* - **
	Wetpaint	* - **
	PBWiki	* - **
	MediaWiki	* - **
	Socialtext	* - **
Social Bookmarking		*
	del.icio.us	*
	digg.com	*
RSS		**
	web-based	**
	client-based	**
Virtual Worlds		*******
	Second Life	***
	there.com	***
	Koneva	***

Complexity for Creators

Devin_Blong — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:49:48 CST

Definition of Rating:
For organizations without heavy technological knowledge background or any organization in a hurry, the complexity of creating and implementing these technologies is a major consideration. On the flip side, however, greater complexity often leads to greater control and customization. This is an essential tradeoff when picking a participatory technology.

Rating Scale:
* The site is there, all you have to do is register and upload, single set template
** More variables required, such as creating profiles, picking templates, etc.
*** Significant coding or other time investment involved

Category	PMCA	Rating
Multi-Media Sharing		*
	Flickr.com	*
	YouTube.com	*
	.mac	- *
	Veoh.com	**
	Blip.tv	*
Social Networking		* - **
	Facebook.com	* - **
	MySpace.com	* - **
	Friendster.com	* - **
	Ning.com	* - **
	Twitter.com	* - **
Blogging, Vlogging, Vcasting, and Podcasting		**
	Blogger.com	**
	Livejournal.com	**
	Wordpress	**
Wiki		- *
	Wikipedia	**
	Wetpaint	**
	PBWiki	**
	MediaWiki	***
	Socialtext	***
Social Bookmarking		*
	del.icio.us	*
	digg.com	*
RSS		*-**
	web-based	*
	client-based	**
Virtual Worlds		*******
	Second Life	***
	there.com	***
	Koneva	***

Introduction to PMCA Guidebook

sgerson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:08:14 CST

Welcome to the PMCA Guidebook, a project initiated by students in a course on Participatory Media/Collective Action at UC Berkeley taught by the illustrious Howard Rheingold and Xiao Qiang. As a resource for participatory media, we intend for the guidebook to itself be participatory – i.e. we encourage your participation and the continued co-evolution of this resource beyond the scope of our course. We even illustrate the use of participatory media for collective action by incorporating them into this guidebook, for example by using RSS in our News Feeds and using the Social Networking Tool of Facebook to create a group dedicated to Participatory Media and Collective Action.

The PMCA Guidebook is intended for individuals, organizations, scholars, and other interested parties seeking to use participatory media for collective action, or PMCA. Towards this end, it classifies participatory media into different categories (listed in the 'Technologies' section to the left), offers examples in each category, and characterizes each category according to criteria (listed in the 'Criteria' section to the left) relevant for collective action. For example, the category of Social Networking Tools includes the examples of Facebook and MySpace, and is characterized according to the criteria of cost and write-accessibility. This framework is intended to help parties interested in PMCA compare different participatory media according to the same criteria, and choose the ones most appropriate to their needs and preferences. E.g. if members of a student group were interested in mobilizing collective action on the Burmese monks’ protests, this guidebook would allow them to compare different participatory media on choose among them. Note that the participatory media are not mutually exclusive, but can be leveraged together in an articulated PMCA strategy.

This guidebook is also intended to operate in the reverse direction: as it is fleshed out, parties interested in a particular participatory medium can learn more about its characteristics in comparison to other participatory media. In other words, this guidebook is both a resource for moving from criteria to participatory media and developing PMCA strategy, and for moving from participatory media to criteria and developing empirical knowledge of PMCA.

As an aspiring empirical resource, the PMCA Guidebook hopes to answer questions such as: How do different participatory media compare to each other vis-à-vis collective action? Under which circumstances or for which purposes are different participatory media useful for collective action? And, according to which criteria to characterize different participatory media vis-à-vis collective action? On this last question, we recognize that the criteria in this guidebook are debatable – they are a limited set, and leave out characteristics that are difficult to quantify. For example, how to incorporate ethical concerns? E.g. if Facebook retains copyright over all content uploaded by users, should this be factored into how Facebook or Social Networking Tools in general are conceived as PMCA? Users of this guidebook are encouraged to challenge and potentially change these criteria. Ultimately, we hope to further the participatory dialogue regarding PMCA. Onwards!

Home

sgerson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:05:00 CST

Welcome to the
Participatory Media/Collective Action Guidebook.

Although there is little doubt that participatory media can be useful for collective action, it's hard for many would-be users to decide what to use and when. We created this PMCA Guidebook to help individuals, organizations, and others interested in participatory media for collective action answer this question. Please participate by adding to our page! Click here for a more detailed introduction of the PMCA Guidebook.

Use the sandbox to practice editing, and then move on to the wiki itself. If you're creating a page for a new participatory medium please use the "Tech Template" as a template for your page. If you're creating a new criterion to characterize the participatory media, please use the "Rating Table" as a template for your page, and add a new line on the Tech template for your rating.

We are five graduate students (Devin_Blong, Caricia, pickoffwhite, sgerson, sshein) from different departments a the University of California, Berkeley working with professors Howard Rheingold and Xiao Qiang.

Virtual Worlds

sgerson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:59:24 CST

Definition – Virtual worlds are computer-based simulated environments intended for users to inhabit and interact via avatars. This habitation usually is represented in the form of two or three-dimensional graphical representations of humanoids (or other graphical or text-based avatars) (Wikipedia). Virtual worlds differ in many respects – whether they are goal-oriented or open-ended; the mode of communication – text, voice, and/or otherwise; whether they require honesty about users’ real identities and/or allow for the creation of virtual identities; the degree of ‘writeability’ (user-created content); and the system of intellectual property rights over content; among others.

Examples – Second Life, There.com, Kaneva (these are virtual worlds that have/could be used for activism/philanthropy, though this is debatable)

Why Use It? – Goal-oriented virtual worlds tend to be used for entertainment or educational/training purposes. More open-ended ones, like Second Life, are used for the same reasons along with a variety of others, such as business meetings, music concerts, job fairs, marketing, political campaigning, and philanthropy. Ultimately, virtual worlds are media for immersive social interaction, and are therefore useful for communication, collaboration, and other social purposes.

Use-Cases – Because it’s the virtual world I know most about, the following examples are drawn from Second Life:

Linden Lab formerly taxed avatars for objects created and in July of 2003, residents staged a successful tax revolt and managed to change Linden Lab’s policy. Avatars similarly used Second Life to change Linden Lab’s policy on property and human (i.e. resident) rights (Herman et. al, 2006, Swaine, 2007). There exist several groups in Second Life dedicated specifically to in-world governance, such as the Second Life Liberation Army.

IBM workers strike in Second Life – the virtual strike of almost 2,000 avatars was part of a broader strategy for higher pay. And although its impact on the success of the broader strategy is unclear, strike organizers called it a success and one month afterwards, a new contract with IBM Italy was signed.

There are numerous groups in Second Life dedicated to social justice and environmental sustainability, but most offer information rather than using Second Life as a participatory medium for collective action. I know that members of Commonwealth Island circulate petitions via Second Life, but I have yet to hear of a real-world strike, boycott, protest, etc. that was organized via Second Life.

Ratings
Cost: $$$ (requires fast internet connection and video-card)
Start-Up Time: TTTT (potentially steep learning curve for UI)
Maintenance time: TTTT (comparable to a medium of communication, e.g. email)
Complexity for Creators: *** (initially steep learning curve but then easy)
Complexity for Users: *** (initially steep learning curve but then easy)
Broadband required for effective use?: Y
Read Accessibility: 1
Write Accessibility: 2
Traffic: 2
Bling: 4 (note: large range, e.g. Second Life is almost entirely user-created and therefore may have less bling than There.com and Kaneva)
Blingability: 4 (note: large range, e.g. Second Life is almost entirely user-created vs. There.com and Kaneva)

How-To – Virtual worlds are similar to Social networking tools in that a user must register for an account, start a profile, and start engaging. However, their learning curves tend be initially steeper – users must learn to navigate, become accustomed to the GUI, etc. Also, some Virtual worlds charge fees for registration, some only for certain activities (e.g. Second Life only for owning land), and some are entirely free.

Helpful Links
Virtual worlds:

Virtual worlds as pmca:

IBM workers strike in Second Life (blog post on New World Notes)
Pop Cosmopolitanism in Virtual Worlds, or How Second Life Can Save the World (blog post on McArthur's Digital Media and Learning blog)
Possibilities for market-based environmental governance via Second Life (academic paper by Stephanie Gerson)
Second Chance Trees (mixed-world reforestation project)

Broadband Required

Devin_Blong — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:55:30 CST

Definition of Rating System:
Many sites, especially those involving large amounts of multimedia content, require broadband internet access to use effectively. While broadband is rapidly becoming more common, it is not yet universal. If your target audience might not have access to a broadband internet connection, this is an important consideration.

Rating Scale:
Y - Broadband access is required to effectively utilize this medium
N - Broadband access is not required to effectively utilize this medium

Category	PMCA	Rating
Multi-Media Sharing		Y
	Flickr.com	N
	YouTube.com	Y
	.mac	Y
	Veoh.com	Y
	Blip.tv	N
Social Networking		N
	Facebook.com	N
	MySpace.com	N
	Friendster.com	N
	Ning.com	N
	Twitter.com	N
Blogging, Vlogging, Vcasting, and Podcasting
	Blogger.com	N
	Livejournal.com	N
	Wordpress	N
Wiki		N
	Wikipedia	N
	Wetpaint	N
	PBWiki	N
	MediaWiki	N
	Socialtext	N
Social Bookmarking		N
	del.icio.us	N
	digg.com	N
RSS		N
	web-based	N
	client-based	N
Virtual Worlds		Y
	Second Life	Y
	there.com	Y
	Koneva	Y

News Feeds

Caricia — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:18:05 CST

Technologies

Caricia — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:13:31 CST

There are hundreds of new technologies and tools available to individual advocates and social justice organizations. These online tools all have the ability to organize and facilitate your work, to link you with others, and to help you to share your work, ideas, and concerns with people around the world. To choose which online tools are best for you, we have included some of our favorite sites and some of the most popular sites. We look at each of these according to their cost, ease of use, time requirements, attractiveness, flexibility, and more.

To find out which technologies best meet your needs, just click on the menu bar to the left orthe list below:

Blog
Bookmarking
Multimedia Sharing
RSS
Social Networking Tools
Wikis
Virtual Worlds

Write Accessibility

sshein — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:41:38 CST

Definition of Rating System:
One of the most important outcomes of the Web 2.0 Movement has been the idea of "moving beyond" the traditional billboard style, informational website. While sometimes an authoritative, informational website is precisely what one needs, it is important to think of other modes of interaction when planning to utlize information technology in your Company or Program. Different participatory medias are appropriate depending on how much interaction you want with "the world," your members, and your administration. Read Accessibility and Write Accessibility are two factors that greatly influence this decision. Read Accessibility is how "open" the information on the site is, and who exactly can see the data. Write Accessibilty involves how collaborative the site is and how much a user can add and edit.

Includes:
log-in options, partial visibility, adding major content, adding comments.

Excludes:
Write Accessibility for people with disabilities. See http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ for information on how to make your sites more accessible in this manner. Also does not include the technical expertise needed to add content.

Rating Scale:
0 Only the administrators of the site can add major content
1 You can add major content if you log in, logging in costs $ or is exclusive
2 You can add some major content, but if you want to add more you must pay $
3 You can add major content if you log in, logging in is free
4 You can add major content and comments without logging in

Category	PMCA	Rating
Multi-Media Sharing		3
	Flickr.com	3
	YouTube.com	3
	.mac	1-2
	Veoh.com	3
	Blip.tv	3-4
Social Networking		3
	Facebook.com	3
	MySpace.com	3
	Friendster.com	3
	Ning.com	3
	Twitter.com	3
Blogging, Vlogging, Vcasting, and Podcasting		0-4 (set by admin)
	Blogger.com	0-4 (set by admin)
	Livejournal.com	0-4 (set by admin)
Wiki		Usually set by admin
	Wikipedia	3-4
	Wetpaint	0-4 (set by admin)
	PBWiki	0-4 (set by admin)
	MediaWiki	0-4 (set by admin)
	Socialtext	0-4 (set by admin)
Social Bookmarking		3
	del.icio.us	3
	digg.com	3
RSS		N/A
	web-based	N/A
	client-based	N/A
Virtual Worlds		2
	Second Life	2
	there.com	2
	Koneva	2

Maintenance Time

sshein — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:41:07 CST

Definition of Rating System:
The amount of time in minutes that it generally takes per week to maintain a participatory media platform, given basic computer literacy and a midrange Internet connection.

Includes:
Includes time to implement regular updates; time to compose text and/or produce very basic multimedia such as photographic images and video (3 minute length, minimal editing); and, time to respond to interactive media (such as blogs).

Excludes:
Excludes the time that is required to become basically proficient the skills necessary to create multimedia; additional time required for very slow Internet connections (some dial-up and poor wireless connection); advanced multimedia production and post-production time; and, system maintenance or site restructuring.

Rating Scale:
T = 1 –14 minutes per week. For example, tagging website pages and sharing them with others through del.icio.us.
TT = 15 – 30 minutes. For example, uploading and labeling your new pictures onto flickr.
TTT = 30 – 89 minutes (.5 - 1.5 hrs.) For example, communicating with your networks of friends and updating your profile on Friendster.
TTTT = 90 - 239 minutes (1.5 - 4 hours) For example, maintaining your blog with text and photos on blogger.
TTTTT = 240 minutes and up (4 hours +) For example, maintaining your videoblog with one new 3 minute video plus descriptive text per week.

Category	PMCA	Rating
Multi-Media Sharing		T - TTTTT
	Flickr.com	T - TT
	YouTube.com	T - TTTTT
	.mac	T - TTTTT
	Veoh.com	T - TTTTT
	Blip.tv	T - TTTTT
Social Networking		T - TTT
	Facebook.com	TT - TTT
	MySpace.com	TT - TTT
	Friendster.com	TT - TTT
	Ning.com	TT - TTT
	Twitter.com	T
Blogging, Vlogging, Vcasting, and Podcasting		TTTT - TTTTT
	Blogger.com	TTTT - TTTTT
	Livejournal.com	TTTT - TTTTT
Wiki		T - TTT
	Wikipedia	T - TTT
	Wetpaint	T - TTT
	PBWiki	T - TTT
	MediaWiki	T - TTT
	Socialtext	T - TTT
Social Bookmarking		T
	del.icio.us	T
	digg.com	T
RSS		T-TT
	web-based	T-TT
	client-based	T-TT
Virtual Worlds		TTTT - TTTTT
	Second Life
	there.com
	Koneva

Cost

sshein — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:40:21 CST

Definition of Rating System:
The price in dollars of obtaining the basic start-up and one year of maintenance requirements.

Includes:
Includes capital costs, such as computer hardware and software. Also includes regular costs, such as Internet connection, website fees, and hosting space.

Excludes:
The cost of labor time. Also excludes the cost of obtaining prerequisite training and education.

Rating Scale:
$ = $0 - $499. For example, very basic software and hardware (available on nearly any computer); any basic Internet connection (available on any connection, even dial-up or weak wireless); and, no website or hosting fees.
$$ = $500 - $2999. For example, midrange software and hardware (available on most newly manufactured computers); above-basic Internet connection (broadband, satellite, DSL cable); and, nominal website user fee ($60-$100 yearly).
$$$ = $3000 - $6999. For example, prosumer software and hardware (available on higher-level or nearly professional level computers); good Internet connection (Broadband, DSL, or satelite); and, minimal yearly website user fees or hosting fees ($200-$400 yearly).
$$$$ = $7000 and up. For example, professional software and hardware (available via specialized manufacturers); excellent Internet connection (Broadband, DSL); and, professional website user fees or hosting fees ($400 and up annually).

Category	PMCA	Rating
Multi-Media Sharing		$ - $$$
	Flickr.com	$
	YouTube.com	$
	.mac	$$ - $$$
	Veoh.com	$
	Blip.tv	$
Social Networking		$$
	Facebook.com
	MySpace.com
	Friendster.com
	Ning.com
	Twitter.com
Blogging, Vlogging, Vcasting, and Podcasting		$ - $$$$
	Blogger.com
	Livejournal.com
Wiki		$ - $$$$
	Wikipedia
	Wetpaint
	PBWiki
	MediaWiki
	Socialtext
Social Bookmarking		$
	del.icio.us	$
	digg.com	$
RSS		$
	web-based
	client-based
Virtual Worlds		$$ - $$$
	Second Life
	there.com
	Koneva

Bookmarking

pickoffwhite — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:05:36 CST

Definition
Social bookmarking is a system where people work together to bring together articles and works throughout the Internet by tagging them. For example, people can vote on something if it is informative as a suggestion for others to read it, or add it to a list of articles on the same topic.

Examples
Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Google Reader

Why use it?
Sites such as Digg receive about 20 million hits a month. People who find something via social bookmarking are also more likely to trust the source, because it has been pre-approved by a human, instead of a list generated by a search engine. It's also any easy way for people to check out what their friends are reading, and stumble across your site that way.

Sites such as Del.icio.us can be really helpful in saving, organizing, managing, and categorizing all of the websites that you want to remember. It's easy to share tags through digg and find key websites by looking at others' use of the same tag.Del.icio.us also allows you to see all of your bookmarks online, so you can access them and add to them from any computer.

Use Cases
In a del.icio.us search of “human rights” the top ten hits are all well-known organizations. If the same term is googled definitions and some unknown organizations come up along with the United Nations. With the del.icio.us tags I have more trust that the organizations that come up are valid and I was able to find them much more quickly.

Check out the del.icio.us tag for participatory media and collective action, "pmca", to see a list of web resources and articles related to the subject.

Ratings
Cost = $
Start-Up Time = T
Maintenance time = T
Complexity for Creators: *
Complexity for Users: *
Broadband required for effective use?: N
Read Accessibility: 3
Write Accessibility: 3
Comments: depends
Traffic: 3 (about 2 million regular users, 20 million hits a month)
Bling: 5
Blingability: 1

How to use
Sign up of an account at one of the social bookmarking sites above. Most of them will insert a toolbar, so whenever you see something relevant to your organization, tag-it!

Helpful/Interesting Links

A general review of Social Bookmarking Tools (from D-Lib Magazine)
Digg's failing democracy (from the Download Squad)