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Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow of Information through Social Media

I am a complete and utter fan boy when it comes to the work of Danah Boyd. She is a systems thinker, par excellence. She doesn't shy away from the issues most people seem to avoid, like class, race, gender, and power. She is relentless in both her relevance and her rigor. These qualities are evident in her recent Web 2.0 Expo talk entitled "Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow of Information through Social Media". I particularly like the four core issues she has parsed out as the current challenges of networks and society: (1) The disruption we are undergoing is not inherently democratic. What do we do about that? (2) People seek out content that stimulates them. When you think of this the way you might think about food or drugs, you can see how this might be problematic. (3) Homophily rules. "Prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, and power are all baked into our networks." (4) Power isn't necessarily moving to the creators of content. "What's emerging is not inherently the power of the creators, but the power of the modern day information brokers." Posted: 11/24/09; 5:31:04 PM #

In Social Enterprise Force Yourself to be an Entrepreneur First

Although I am critical of the notion that civil society must only learn from business and not the other way around, I do like many of the ideas and much of the spirit in Peter Haas' piece In Social Enterprise Force Yourself to be an Entrepreneur First. Although he says "don't be a nonprofit" (although the corporate nonprofit model is troublesome to me, I frankly can't agree with that as a rule), his other nine "rules" are worth our attention: (1) Don't start a new organization. (2) Clearly define what you do and stick with it. (3) Clearly define your budgets and cash flow, and track your variance. (4) It costs more than you expect. Get more than you need. (5) Get legal and stay legal. (6) Pay yourself and your staff from the beginning. (7) Communicate openly with your staff and board and have clear roles and responsibilities. (8) Treat both constituents and donors as customers. (What about treating them as citizens?) (9) Play nice with others. Posted: 11/24/09; 5:18:23 PM #

Timbuktu Chronicles: Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in Africa

I was going to pick a particular post from Emeka Okafor's Timbuktu Chronicles, but I concluded that it's more compelling to recommend his entire blog. He writes short, inviting posts that are dense with intriguing links and quotations from a fabulous range of sources. His focus is Africa, but with an emphasis on social entrepreneurship and sustainability. There are plenty of feel-good fluff blogs about Africa, but this isn't one of them. The news, resources and, most of all, the commentary, offer critical thinking and genuine depth. Posted: 11/24/09; 4:55:38 PM #

New Business Models for News Organizations

The most prominent methods of large scale project planning in civil society embrace the notions of "theories of change" and "logic models". I have often hoped that there would be forums for such models to be shared, tested, and developed within communities of practice and there are people who are trying to make that happen. Here is a fantastic example of exactly that sort of forum: The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism has developed several New Business Models for News Organizations, which they are inviting people to dive into. Most significantly, they are offering the models for download in formats that permit tweaking their assumptions. This is precisely the strength of the practice of modeling and it's a thrill to see it used in a practitioner setting (albeit from an academic institution more used to the notion of peer review). Some of the interesting models to study include: Hyperlocal & Ecosystem Frameworks, something they are calling New News Organizations, several Not-for-Profit models, and a couple of Paid Content models. I encourage everyone who is even remotely in the information business (nonprofit or otherwise) to engage with this material, along with the thinking and practices that are reflected in this forum. Posted: 11/24/09; 4:46:40 PM #

David Bornstein's FAQ is a Social Entrepreneurship Primer

Rarely have I read a more interesting FAQ than the one found on David Bornstein's Stories of Change blog. I'm not sure if these really are frequently asked questions on the topic of "social entrepreneurship", but it hardly matters. These are great questions and even better answers. I'll give you the former here to induce you to read the latter: What is a social entrepreneur? Where did this new wave of social entrepreneurship come from? Why has it found a place in the 21st century? Why are these ideas so successful? Are there commonalities between these social entrepreneurs despite their obvious differences? So many governments are failing to implement change where social entrepreneurs are flourishing. How do you explain this phenomenon? How did you select the social entrepreneurs in How to Change the World? What were you aiming to profile (in your book)? Many of your social entrepreneurs are fellows of the organization Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. What was it about Ashoka that captured your interest? What do you see as the most important aspect of these social entrepreneurs? How should budding social entrepreneurs go about implementing their ideas? Do you envision social entrepreneurship reaching a saturation point? Can anyone change the world? Posted: 11/24/09; 4:14:38 PM #