Social Media Strategist: Blog

Contact a family has recently opened up a new virtual drop in centre within second life.

Contact a Family is a government funded initiative. They have embraced the platform and created a digital office for the parents of disabled children. The office opening times are 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday. However resources and information can be accessed out of hours. It allows parents of disabled children who are often homebound to meet and interact in real time through their avatars.

Contact a family have embraced the full social media spectrum with accounts and applications on Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, Youtube, Twitter and its own network, makingcontact.org.

The continual humanitarian struggle within Burma has been well publicised over the last few months.

However I thought it would be a good idea to highlight a number of recent events within the country that specifically relate to sharing information within the digital sphere.

Author and blogger Nay Phone Latt who has been in custody for six months has had the charges held against him changed from the crimes against ‘the video act’ to the ‘Emergency Provisions Act’. The hearing was due to be held this week and he now faces a maximum of 7 years in prison. Latts lawer claims that the Burmese law enforcement agencies “do not respect and abide by the law” as they “change their charge sheet again and again”. Meanwhile Latt’s eye condition continues to deteriorate and his mother fears that her son is slowly going blind due to the nonexistent medical treatment.

Meanwhile the famous on/offline human rights activist (and previous heart patient) Suu Suu New received a head blow whilst arguing with prison authorities in late June. She is currently suffering from high blood pressure as she sits in solitary confinement. Medicine has been sent to her however there has been no confirmation from the authorities or Suu Suu that they have reached her.

(Informaiton via Mizzima News)

Just over a week ago I participated in an interactive event/conversation that cross referenced using performance and art with that of human rights.

The key topics revolved around the issues, roles and responsibilities that artists, activists and those within the media can and should embrace. The basic concept of the event allowed members of the auditorium to interact with the event only when sat on the large table in the centre of the room.

The events concept was conceived by Lois Weaver one of the founders of This is Live Art. The event explored the relationship surrounding art and theatre poverty from a number of angels and perspectives. These ranged from heartfelt personal experiences to wishy washy statements and points of view. The diversity within the crowd allowed for an interesting debate however there seemed to be a divide between those who wanted to make beautiful and interesting theatre and those who thought more pragmatically about how theatre and art can be used in order to evoke change. This divide seemed to stop the debate progressing and the conversation occasionally went stale in anticipation for a new subject matter or a controversial statement.

At one point I was gunned down by a theatrical purist seconds after suggesting the use of YouTube as a tool that the arts may wish to embrace in today’s video enriched society. Anyhow overall it was an interesting event with some interesting areas to take influence from.

This debate will explore the recent change in behaviour and attitudes towards privacy largeley evoked by Social media and technology.

These social and technological developments include new mobile technologies, self-publishing tools and social networking sites (Facebook, Bebo etc).The conversation will explore perceived privacy issues between the younger and older generations? Are we naive by putting so much private information online and unaware of the consequences in later life? Will we all have to get used to a world where there is almost no boundary between public and private life? What are the implications for society when people reveal so much about themselves to the world?

The panel of expert judges includes, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the RSA, Claire Fox, director of Institute of Ideas, Iain Dale, one of Britain‘s leading political commentators and Stephen Whittle, visiting fellow at the Reuters Institute of Journalism at Oxford University. The Panel will question expert Witnesses from the personal, the political, the virtual and the academic worlds, including: Camilla Wright from popular blog Popbitch; Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and Official Historian of the BBC; Dr Tanya Byron, child psychologist and author of a governmental report on the impact of the internet on children and Tom Ilube, CEO of Garlik, the online identity experts.

This should be an interesting debate and it will be fascinating cross evaluating the thoughts of those within new media against that of a political commenter.

Let me know if you are going to come along! Tickets are free and still available here

A recent UN report showed that mobile technology is changing the way that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work, using mobile technology to overcome humanitarian challenges.

The technology is also heavily used today to get information from citizen journalists to the mainstream media. For example, during last year’s wildfires in the USA, major news outlets like NBC and CNN’s each received around 2,000 submissions of photos and video from people who sent in submissions via their mobile phones. The spread of information also intoxicated other social media sites like flickr, YouTube, and Twitter.

If you want to get involved with mobile activism, there is MobileActive.org, a site that is an all-volunteer community of people and organizations using mobile phones for social change. Their aim is to promote the use of mobile technology, which can help NGO’s better serve their communities.

London’s Southbank will be playing host to the Hide and Seek Festival 2008. Some of these social games look awesome. Many are free and being booked up extremely quickly….

Games Include

Londons biggest Flashmob event?

Bluetooth, wifi, Active RF Beacons and 2D Barcodes

Twitter virtual shoot em up Game!

Technology, Dj’s, VJs…

Blast Theory is an ensemble who merges performance with technology. Blast Theory’s events are often based across a number of platforms and integrates the virtual with the real through live and interactive games.

Their newest work however is an interactive instalment (part of the Meltdown festival) at the Southbank Centre. The Day of the Figurines will take place from the 12^th June – 5^th July and involve up to 1000 participants. Each participant is assigned a miniature model. They are asked to control him or her via SMS’s over the course of the event. Furthermore participants are encouraged to visit their figurine during the event if they have the time to do so.

This is a free event and I would strongly recommend participating. All performers will receive at least one SMS each day updating them on their figurines progress. To join the game, you have to visit the game board in the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank.

This year The Meltdown Festival is hosted by Massive Attack. It also includes a number of other innovative games, music, theatre, art and socialising events.

I will be participating in the Day of the Figurines and hopefully attend James Lavelle’s (of Unkle) Silent Disco Party.

Let me know if you are going to participate in any of the above.