What I want for Social Media Christmas

I want to be able to leave audio comments on a blog as easily as I can on something like Audioboo.

Anyone know how to do that?

Hello? Is this thing on?

Did Social Media Kill The Economy?

Stop what you're doing. Sit back. Take twenty minutes. Watch this.

Essential viewing on why our econmonic models are now out of date, why the banking system is no longer relevant and why this is a good thing. No, seriously.

Are you listening Gordon Brown?

'How the Web Ate the Economy and Why it’s Great for Everyone' from web 2.0/social media guru, the ever-challenging (and usually right) Doug Rushkoff:



In case you think I'm raving (which, let's face it, is not beyond the realms of possibility), note that we're already seeing how social media and mobile technologies are helping people circumnavigate the stranglehold that financial institutions have over us.

Social Media for Non-Profits

Want to use social media goodies to help get your non-profit/development group seen and heard? Do yourself a favour and drop by Beth's blog.

About Beth:

Beth Kanter is a trainer, blogger, and consultant to nonprofits and individuals in effective use of social media. Her expertise is how to use new web tools (blogging, tagging, wikis, photo sharing, video blogging, screencasting, social networking sites, and virtual worlds, etc) to support nonprofit. She has worked on projects that include: training, curriculum development, research, and evaluation. She is an experienced coach to "digital immigrants" in the personal mastery of these tools.

Read more at Beth's Blog.

Anyone got any more suggestions for sources of info on using social media for non-profits, development and social change?

Us Now

Us Now will be shown at the RSA London on December 3rd.

I'll be there.

Find out more at http://www.usnowfilm.com/

Google release 'Lively' chat rooms

Google seem mighty proud of their latest creation, 'Lively' a 3-D chat room facility which can be plugged into any other webpage. That means that I could (if one were inclined) add a 'Lively chat room on this network. It all seems a bit 'Second Life', but this is one to keep an eye on - if only to see where Google's social media strategy is going. From the Ars Technica review:

'Unveiled on Google's blog with the disclaimer that it was a "20 percent" project, Lively is designed to be a portable 3D space where users can build rooms and interact with visitors via avatars. "Second Life in a web browser" is an applicable analogy, though Google appears to have made sure that rooms and user activities remain in the G to PG range. Each room can be linked with a unique URL—I Hate Ewoks and Lively: Google Room are two good examples—or even embedded in a website through an iframe.

"If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website," Google's Niniane Wang said in the announcement post, "you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose." Apparently, a WordPress theme, Flickr photosteam widget, and a Twitter Flash badge aren't enough to show off one's personality anymore; we need to know people's architectural preferences as well. '



More here