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NetSquared enables social benefit organizations to leverage the tools of the social web.
All the folks on the "web"
What's *really* new on the Web, as opposed to buzzwords and soundbites?:
<>A recent Washington Post articl noted that *all* age groups from 13-17 to 60-65 have more than 60% participation on the Web ... what does this mean? Certain the participation varies dramatically but the point is still compelling - what *are* those older populations doing? Consuming? How can we involve them and their offline lives more effectively?
<>We should be very careful not to assume that everything that gets done needs to be done through technology. Obviously no one at the conference *believes* that but aren't we being lazy not to actively ursue offline strategies in tandem?
Which tools best embody the new opportunities from your point of view and why?:
Email is still really important - most important. I'm still not sold on Blogging - sorry. Interactive relationship oriented tools are important - to keep people connecting - the vast majority of the older populations want to stay connected to other people - not just with porn ... but to their families and friends. Making people's worlds smaller.
Who's doing the best work with the new tools (technically or in terms of social benefit or both)?:
No one here I think. International human rights groups I think are doing best ... because they *MUST* do effective online and offline organizing ... I'll name no names.
What's the bad news? What are the greatest barriers preventing web-based technology from producing social change?:
The more techies dictate where technology goes ... the more open source proponents fail to support and/or evolve in user friendly ways - the further we will get down a road that is inherently ineffective and all about stuff we'll need to undo. Wasted time and effort.
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