The Medium of Change - Context
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The document traces the evolution of technology from the beginning of the universe to modern smartphones and social media. It argues that this new "medium of change" is connecting people in ways that enable more distributed and self-organized action for social change. Examples are given of how social technologies have facilitated grassroots organizing and fundraising around political campaigns and humanitarian crises. The document concludes by introducing ChangeMedium, an organization that aims to advance these technologies to accelerate progress towards a better future.
The Medium of Change - Context
- 1. Advancing the medium of change
- 5. 7,300 years ago - Agriculture
- 6. 150 years ago - Industrial Revolution
- 10. 1989 - Exxon Valdez Spill
- 11. 1994 - Rwanda
- 12. 2000 - Aral Sea dies
- 13. We thought we were in control.
- 14. 2001 - 911
- 15. 2006 - Climate Change
- 16. 2008 - Global markets collapse
- 17. We were wrong.
- 18. “A flaw in the model... ...that defines how the world works.”
- 19. We’re making our planet inhospitable.
- 22. We’re screwed.
- 24. 1946 - First Computer
- 25. 1969 - Internet Launched
- 26. 1973 - Phones go ‘mobile’
- 27. 1991 - Web Launched
- 28. 1998
- 29. 1999
- 31. 2003
- 32. 2004
- 33. 2004
- 34. 2005
- 35. 2006
- 36. 2007 - Wins “Best of Web” at SXSW
- 37. 2007
- 38. 2008
- 39. 4 billion people connected together
- 42. open
- 43. mobile
- 44. social
- 45. personal
- 46. public
- 47. spontaneous
- 48. engaging
- 49. practical
- 50. A medium of change.
- 51. the medium of change Data Interaction Infrastructure Devices an emerging system of social technologies that bring people together more people ➜ making more change ➜ for a better future ➜ sooner
- 52. it’s changing us •Now over 1.5 •Governor People Coming Schwarzenegger billion internet Together responded to users + 4 billion individual ‘tweets’, mobile subscribers enables publicly, •45% of people in spontaneously, from developing world his BlackBerry are mobile subscribers Medium •In the last 2 months more original •By 2020 mobile will of content was posted be primary internet Change on YouTube than device disrupts changes the major networks •If Facebook were a Systems Culture could have country it would be of our and broadcast since ’48. the 4th largest in the world. Society Mindset •Ambient intimacy? •Common ground? From news to politics the medium is having profound implications. In the aftermath of the Iran elections in 2009, the US State Department treated Twitter as an essential public service, asking them to delay scheduled maintenance. Shortly after Time declared it the medium of the movement.
- 53. it’s changing change Engagement Action from centralized to distributed from controlled to self-organized Obama charity: water #hohoto Haiti Relief my.barackobama.com enabling practical and spontaneous peer- enabled through sms and enabled 2m participants creative fundraising and produced event in support common web services: which led to: providing direct connection of Toronto’s Daily Bread • Wikipedia page created • 35,000 volunteer groups to projects on the ground: Food Bank within seconds • 70,000 fundraising pages • give up a birthday gift, • 18d from idea to event • Facebook served as • $500m raised from 3m jump out of a plane - • no single leader information source donors making 6.5m fundraising made easy • >dozen primary around missing people donations • through Twestival 1,000 volunteers • RedCross SMS campaign • 200,000 offline events volunteers and 10,000 • sold out 600+ attendance raised $7m within 24h • 2b emails donors raised $250k • >$25k raised • Virtually every online • 3m phone calls online in through 202 events • over 2t food donated service became donation last 4 days globally on Feb 12, 2009 gateway. Awareness from structured to emergent Ushahidi Twitter “The Ushahidi Engine is a platform that allows anyone Through Twitter, people become aware of disasters and to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and events before the mainstream media or conventional visualize it on a map or timeline. Our goal is to create channels can report it. For example, Twitter is able to the simplest way of aggregating information from the identify earthquake activity before any other public public for use in crisis response.” source. People are the very sensors of change.
- 54. For a better future,
- 55. sooner.
- 56. let’s get on with it We call the emerging ecosystem of social technologies “the medium of change”. We believe it is changing us and changing change in ways that will ease and accelerate our transition to the future we want. We facilitate initiatives among researchers, developers , and changemakers to advance and apply the medium for a better future, sooner. We are ChangeMedium. Get in touch, to host or take part in our next initiative.
- 57. For a better future, sooner. Contact: Michael Lewkowitz michael@igniter.com 519.200.3034 ChangeMedium.org