What Was Most Popular on Movements.org in 2010?
Which blog posts, case studies or how to guides have you read the most in since our soft launch began in the summer of 2010? Here they are - the ten most clicked posts. Congratulations to Janessa Goldbeck for earning the #1 spot!
1. DOES SOCIAL MEDIA MATTER IN THE FIGHT TO END GENOCIDE?
In October, the blogosphere was abuzz with reactions to Malcolm Gladwell's piece declaring social media a relatively useless mass of "weak ties." In this post, AYM Senior Fellow Janessa Goldbeck uses an example from her own organization, the Genocide Intervention Network, to demonstrate how social media can get reflected offline, in this case by organizing enough support online to get a question about the threat of civil war in Sudan asked of President Obama during a town hall. http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/genocide/
2. 5 EXAMPLES OF TRANSMEDIA ACTIVISM
While there are numerous examples demonstrating the thoughtful use of digital media for advocacy, there are a select number of cases where organizations and activists are using multiple digital platforms and distribution channels to connect, educate and inspire supporters. These instances can be referred to as “transmedia activism.” This post looks at the origins of the term, how it has developed in just the past few years, and its potential for significant impact.
3. MAPTIVISM: MAPPING INFORMATION FOR ADVOCACY AND ACTIVISM
Online mapping is a phenomenal way to communicate and visualize information and data. Maps can tell stories, record and reveal information, show changes over time, and document events during a crisis in ways that words cannot. With new technologies, it has become much easier for individuals with nontechnical backgrounds to engage with mapping technologies,many of which are available for free. Digital maps can be combined with data to give new context to issues and events and to promote transparency. This post covers different types of mapping for advocacy, with some examples that have proven successful.
4. SEE. CLICK. FIX CORRUPTION IN INDIA?
The prevalence of bribery in India is overwhelming, but the past few years have seen Indian civil society take on some important efforts towards minimizing it. One is Ipaidabribe.com, where citizens report on corrupt acts and an affiliated NGO analyzes and addresses them. At Kiirti, citizens similarly report on corrupt actions, but it is addressed by a mixture of other citizens and NGO staffers.
Reports to Kiirti's map are not exactly going strong...stay tuned for an update on obstacles facing the team behind the effort, and whether or not it makes sense for them to partner with I Paid a Bribe.
5. CROWDSOURCING SOCIAL CHANGE IN MEXICO CITY?
Yo Propongo is a fledgling effort to solicit policy proposals from young people in Mexico for issues that affect them. They'll be taking suggestions on each issue for 6 months, and at the end of that period will push the best suggestions to the top and bring them to policymakers. The first issue at hand was drunk driving in Mexico City. Check out this post to read more about some of the tactics used by the Yo Propongo team to engage their peers - they're innovative, and could easily be applied to a lot of other contexts.
6. CHECKING IN WITH THE PAKISTAN YOUTH ALLIANCE
As the devastation caused by the massive floods in Pakistan spotlighted, doling out basic goods and services (essentially filling the whole left by the government's inadequacies) is one of the most important tasks facing civil society in Pakistan. Recognizing this is the Pakistan Youth Alliance, which has redirected most of their resources towards providing relief to victims of the flood. They have launched and sustained a successful donation campaign largely through the use of Facebook, which allows them to ask for funding and then to keep their funders abreast of their activities by regularly posting photos of themselves giving water and food to victims in the rural parts of the country.
7. HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY FOR YOUR DIGITAL ACTIVISM CAMPAIGN
This is the first how to guide we published on movements.org - and that was deliberate. The guide offers broad brush strategy advice on launching a social movement campaign that's aided by new technologies.
What's the take home point? Think about your overall strategy - your audience, your resources, your goals - before choosing specific tools or tactics. A big hat tip to Mary Joyce of the Meta Activism project for putting this together.
In this case study on Viva Favela we highlight the efforts of AYM Senior Fellow Rodrigo Noguiera to web 2.0-ify the citizen media website Viva Favela. "We want to create a huge network of community reporting in the favelas" he says. By training favela (slum) dwellers to create their own videos and blog posts, and allowing anyone to share content on the site, they were able to increase the size of this network immensely - in just one month they published more citizen reports than in a whole year on the site's earlier incarnation. "This number would have been impossible to achieve with a traditional website," says Rodrigo.
9. HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR IMPACT USING TWITTER
This how to guide takes you most of the way from beginning steps in using Twitter for advocacy to more advanced tips, but if you're really an old hat then check out our guides on live Tweeting events, what makes a hashtag successful, and the pros and cons of Twitter newspapers. If you want to request another Twitter or social networking related how to guide, you can always get in touch!
10. GROUP TEXTING: THE NEXT BIG THING IN MOBILE APPS?
It’s the day of your group’s demonstration. You’ve spent days coordinating logistics and now your team and supporters are on the ground. What’s the best way to communicate with your team and let them know of changes and updates? Calling or texting each of your contacts is time consuming. What if you could quickly and easily send a text to all of your team members using one short code? Answer: you can! Check out this post on the newest apps that faciliate groups texting.
