tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3700219877537220492023-11-15T06:15:57.399-08:00Boston Area Social NetworkPeter Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08366395004530642871noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-30586282452707906992009-12-14T17:50:00.000-08:002009-12-14T17:59:04.942-08:00Blink#2: 85 Broads85 Broads is a chapter at Tufts of the larger global network. It focuses on trying to get more women involved in areas like finance, business, non-profits, etc where we don't usually see as many women. <br /><br />1.Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do in Somerville?<br />As a chapter, we don't do any work, per say, in the area of Somerville, but we do work with women at Tufts to try to get them more involved in areas like finance and business. However, the larger global network of 85 Broads focuses on the entire world and therefore, would include women from the area of Somerville. <br /> <br />2.How is your organization dealing with the economic downturn? Is it affecting your organization? What about the population that your organization serves?<br />The economic downturn is clearly affecting everyone. It has not directly affected our organization in the ways things are run, but it has affected what we are able to do with the outside community in terms of events. The economic downturn has not affected the population that we serve, since we are a Tufts organization.<br /><br />3.In your opinion, what is the main economic need in Somerville?<br />Like any other area, Somerville needs good leadership and tight finances in order to survive the economic recession. <br /><br />4.We're trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected. What are the three most important partnerships you have -- OR -- the organizations you work most closely with?<br />a) 85 Broads Global Network<br />b) Career Services<br />c) other finance/economic related groups on campusAkratihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214282509910241258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-3519639032767733522009-12-14T17:36:00.000-08:002009-12-14T17:39:27.776-08:00Blink: Chi Omega1.Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do in Somerville?<br /> * The Chi Alpha Chapter of Chi Omega participates in campus-wide philanthropy events that interact with the Medford & Somerville communities<br /> o Read by the River<br /> o Kids' Day<br /> o Halloween on the Hill<br /> o Relay for Life<br /><br />2.How is your organization dealing with the economic downturn? Is it affecting your organization? What about the population that your organization serves?<br /> * Our Executive Board has made a more "lean" budget, and has been sticking to it<br /> * Instead of hiring a chef to cook dinner at Chi Omega 4 nights per week, we switched to catered dinner twice per week<br /><br />3.In your opinion, what is the main economic need in Somerville?<br /> * Addressing the needs of elementary, middle, and high-school students<br /> o Encouragement to apply to private high schools<br /> o Bridging the gap between the socioeconomic status at Tufts and the status of the Somerville community<br /><br />4.We're trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected. What are the three most important partnerships you have -- OR -- the organizations you work most closely with?<br /> * Strong ties with the Leonard Carmichael Society (one of our juinors is the Vice President) - she encourages all sisters to participate in events <br /><br /> * Sisters who are Child Development majors intern at the Pearson School (i.e. the daycare), and become more involved with community outreach with the children of somervilleAkratihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214282509910241258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-87244848927781353142009-12-14T13:08:00.000-08:002009-12-14T13:16:43.454-08:00MyBLinkFrom browsing around the new website and adding nodes I've found a few issues (apologies in advance if anyone else has already said these). First, the subheading under Opportunities says "Add an opportunities" so this needs to be changed to either "Add opportunities" or "Add an opportunity." Additionally, I think it would be really clean if under both Opportunities and Dashboard there was both a View and an Add option. This would make it a little more organized and symmetrical. In terms of my profile, I think more of a form style editing tool would be helpful, like on facebook. I imagine this is in the works anyway.<br /><br />In terms of adding my actual nodes, I found it difficult to click "save" as this didn't actually seem to be a button, but just text at the bottom of the page. It did ultimately work, though. Also, there was nowhere for me to add email and phone number, but once I submitted it those fields were blank. I like the way that the "issues" section was set up, though, it was very easy to just click on the different topics for each node.Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865342484895244224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-88284897729860633112009-12-13T15:35:00.000-08:002009-12-13T15:47:56.862-08:00new blinksToday, I added a variety of nodes because I wanted to see what problems I might encounter. I added Somerville Public Library, Senator Kerry, MASSPIRG student chapters, and Charlestown High School, and learned a couple things. The mechanics of the website worked well for me, but I found that the tags weren't cutting it for me. Unfortunately, although topics like homelessness work well for organizations like MASSPIRG when trying to tag individuals like Senator Kerry it can be kind of tough. A tag for politics or political figures might be helpful. Also, I came across an ethical dilemma while creating the nodes. For some of them, I just copied and pasted information off their websites. I can't decide whether this is a good idea or a bad idea. Ideally, it would be best if all the nodes created were done by the individual/organizations who they are about, but realistically, if we want the site to grow this would be hard. Consequently, it seems likely the description these organizations wouldn't mind being posted without their consent is what they already have posted up on their websites, so I decided to just copy and paste some of their mission statements. However, after I did this I began to have some doubts about totally taking their words. This also prompted me to think about more questions about consent. As a result, I am posing the following questions to the group, in regards to not only my new nodes but also the future nodes that will inevitably end up on blink. How much information is it OK to post about an organization without their consent? Is it OK to use other websites material? I don't think there is a clear answer to either of these two questions so I would love to get everyone's opinion.Emily Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12783715695412698365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-70865159240423409522009-12-12T21:41:00.000-08:002009-12-12T21:43:54.850-08:00Social Networking More Popular Than EmailI was browsing around the internet and found some interesting stats from an article that was posted in March 2009 that showed that social networking was more popular than email in 2008:<br /><br />New stats from Nielsen Online show that by the end of 2008, social networking had overtaken email in terms of worldwide reach. According to the study, 66.8% of Internet users across the globe accessed “member communities” last year, compared to 65.1% for email. The most popular online activities remain search and Web portals (with around 85% reach) and the websites of software manufacturers.<br /><br />The far-reaching study also explored a number of other trends within the social networking space. In 2008, users spent 63% more time on member communities than they did in the previous year.Akratihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214282509910241258noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-62888613408790453152009-12-12T12:57:00.000-08:002009-12-12T13:04:14.462-08:00new BLinks on BLinks.org<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I posted two new blinks today and created my account on the site. youthvoteMA is a site that I started my junior year of high school, and I think has potential to make connections in the Tufts community.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The site was created as a resource for students and anyone of voting age to get information and resources for registering to vote. It was created as a part of a Girl Scout Gold Award Project in Westborough, MA. The project is focused on providing the youth of Massachusetts with the information, resources and opportunity to register to vote. By developing this website, holding local voter registration drives, and encouraging others to do the same, the project will work to open the door for many prospective voters." I linked it to "education and literacy" and "CIRCLE," because CIRCLE provided me with much of the information I used to create the site. </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 21px;">The second BLink I created was for the Somerville Journal, a local newspaper in Somerville. I discovered that its parent company is the same as my hometown paper and many in MA. I thought that having the Somerville Journal on the site would be a great stepping stone to have them publish information about the site in the paper. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 21px;">I plan to doing some clean-up of nodes later this weekend. </span></span></div>Katherine McManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14457273052518583298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-13771543625739155472009-12-12T12:55:00.000-08:002009-12-12T13:06:58.653-08:00Experiencing with BlinkI browsed around the website. I tried to create my own profile using the same username for the other blog that we had (with myopenid). I am not certain if I successfully create my profile because it seemed like it didn't go through. I also couldn't upload my profile picture. It showed up to an error page. So, I think we need to fix on that.<br /><br />One more thing that I am concern while using the website is that the page of making the profile is just not that great for me. I don't really like it. I think it's easier if there are indications of what to put in a profile, such as network, locations, interests, activities, contact info, education, etc. and at the end perhaps a little box of "about yourself" or "about organization." I hope you guys can picture what I'm trying to say here. But the indications can vary between organizations and individuals.<br /><br />I know that we mention this in class already, but I think we should add a calender to the website somewhere. A calender that indications what is happening during this month. What are the opportunities or big events - show publicly because sometimes people are just lazy to physically browse or search what they need to do. Yes, I know that eventually there will be so many events happening at the same time - we can fix/change that after the website has gone live for a few months or so. OR we should have a calender of each person and each organization. I think it will be more efficient and organized.<br /><br />One last thing, what is the actual home page? We can incorporate the calender in the home page - perhaps for new users to have a sense of what the website is all about.honey.mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03028477232799065211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-88154139593636369072009-12-12T11:47:00.000-08:002009-12-12T11:49:41.183-08:00record bugs and suggestions hereThe "alpha" version of our website is here: <a href="http://myblink.org/">http://myblink.org/</a>. Please record any problems or suggestions as comments here. I have already suggested two items:<br /><br />1. Make the tagline something like this: "<span style="font-weight: bold;">BLink</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">l</span>inks organizations, issues, and people in the Greater <span style="font-weight: bold;">B</span>oston Area for social change."<br /><br />2. Instead of using the word "node" anywhere in the site (for instance, "add a node," or "recent nodes"), use the word "BLink." You add a "BLink" to the map when you add an organization or an issue. Each dot on the interactive map is a BLink.<br /><br />Changes in these items are welcome.Peter Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08366395004530642871noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-90926210212993022112009-12-11T07:44:00.000-08:002009-12-11T08:38:34.300-08:00MDAO; Somerville and beyondFor a new node, I've added the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. I figured I'd share this, because I don't think many people would view this type of governmental organization as really doing much in the way of aiding Somerville's economic hardships, or any city within Middlesex for that matter, but after working with them for several months, I can tell you it is just the opposite. They have pursued several different initiatives and ideas to begin implementing new programs to either replace or in-conjunction with older ones, that will essentially save funds for years to come. For example, the juvenile diversion program that his run through the Cambridge Court House saves countless hours of the police from coming into courthouse, from the assistant district attorneys of having to go into the courtroom and prosecute the offenders, from the different advocates within the court, from the parents that must take time off from work and sit all day in the court, and so on. It's very much a rippling effect, that unless someone really knew about it, would never quite get the impact that it has in a financial manner. <div>I think being able to expand to other organizations and institutions that aren't solely in Somerville is still extremely beneficial, as there are many institutes like the MDAO that don't necessarily do work strictly in Somerville, but definitely do plenty to affect it. It's awesome to see that we now are moving in this direction, and I can't wait to see our final product as it expands with the reaches of Somerville and every hand that has a part in its makeup. </div>Deanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06018192089261741232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-45045753402499443722009-12-09T14:09:00.001-08:002009-12-09T14:09:41.074-08:00Identifying Overlooked Local Assets<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Using the Asset Based Community Development Guide to Mobilizing Local Assets has really been a beneficial tool to assess the current standing of our map, helping me to identify the strengths and weaknesses as we approach turning the map over toward the users. On page 19, entitled “Connecting Organizational Assets to Community Assets,” there is a categorized listing of all different types of assets that might exist within an organization. The different categories include personnel, constituents, space and facilities, expertise, networks of connections, materials and equipment, and economic power. By analyzing these categories separately, we can think creatively about different ways to engage the community. For example, the “expertise” section is further broken down into “classes,” “educational workshops,” and “training courses.” Before reading the ABCD Guide, I had not thought about different community classes as a potential node on our map. However, an art class might be the ideal group to target for a social justice mural to be painted in the community, for example. Looking at the variety of different assets identified in this guide—expanding from just organizations, people, or ideas—can help us think creatively to ensure that this community map reaches its full potential.</p> <!--EndFragment-->Zoe Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13948238114255546000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-57982257485109076122009-12-09T13:02:00.000-08:002009-12-09T13:12:24.109-08:00The Anti-Social-Network Social NetworkAfter reading Jenn's post on social networking in advertising, and after seeing the advertisement which equated hotel lobbies to social networking it made me think about this article I read in the New York Times last week about a variation on social networking sites.<br /><br /><h2 class="entry-title">http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/the-anti-social-network-social-network/</h2>The article explains that there is a new social networking site named By/Association which has striped down the facebook social networking format to create a site specifically for the expansion of "social horizons." The idea is similar to a hotel lobby as well were professionals and "creative types" can reach out to people outside of their industry to people that they might never have the chance to meet. I like the idea because its a professional environment which promotes social out reach beyond the "people you know" button.<br /><br />It's also interesting that the site does not include pictures or profiles which have become standards in the facebook format or dating sites. I think its food for thought to maybe think outside of the "facebook" box.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127918810866586993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-11132390843119542009-12-09T12:52:00.000-08:002009-12-09T13:14:02.020-08:00Site Online!I think that is very exciting to have the site finally be interactive and online, even if only in a test mode. I've explored Blink and clicked on just about everything. I am very glad to see a geographical map on the page that will hold 'Opportunities.' I know we had been talking about needing a geographical representation, but I wasn't sure where it would end up. I also like the idea that with it on this page, when events are created, they can be tagged directly on the map, so when people click on them, the map will tell them where it will take place. I think that the map is really excellent. We played around with it in the last class, but after exploring it a little further, I like how it functions. I'm glad that there is more focus on the nodes closer to the innermost circle, however, it would be good to be able to click on fringe nodes.<div><br /></div><div>I think that there is clearly a lot of work to be done with the nodes themselves however. I understand the goal of the final assignment, to add more nodes and to interact with the site. However, I believe that it is equally important to clean up the nodes that already exist. Many do not have all the links to other nodes that we know exist. There are duplicates and typos which make the site look less reliable, and therefore less likely to be used and trusted as a legitimate resource. </div>Katherine McManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14457273052518583298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-77258017527107166072009-12-08T21:46:00.000-08:002009-12-08T21:58:45.462-08:00More on Social CapitalIt seems like all my classes are intertwining lately. While researching for my Senior Thesis, I came across this great article on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Government Technology</span> magazine website, entitled "Social Capital: Technology's Impact on Society" by Robert Bell that referenced a lot of the studies we discussed in class such as Nie's work and Netville. I liked it a lot because it combined their conclusions with more updated information, which I know was a criticism we all made of the original pieces. I really enjoyed a quote Bell made about the new generations growing up with the Internet. He references another study writing, "The Net generation is in many ways the antithesis of the TV generation... Rather than leaning back on the couch as passive consumers of media, they lean forward to interact, choose and challenge." I am curious how such generational differences will play out on our network map, will our map help this Net generation more, or can it span different age groups? Anyways, the Bell article is pretty short and definitely worth a look. Check it out at: http://www.govtech.com/gt/734063?id=734063&topic=117673&full=1&story_pg=1Emily Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12783715695412698365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-36268409566943246572009-12-08T21:22:00.000-08:002009-12-08T21:41:05.224-08:00Clay Shirky videoBelow is an awesome video discussing the effects web 2.0 has on coordination of institutions: http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration.html<br /><br />The description of the video reads as follows:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In this prescient 2005 talk, Clay Shirky shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />It is a great summary of a lot of issues we have talked about class, such as how institution costs are shed with these new online networks. Shirky also focuses on the power law distribution, and the value of the smaller end of the spectrum, something we have not discussed much in class. He explains that in normal corporations, employees who only contribute one idea are a waste of resources but on networks online, a user who only contributes one idea does not cost anything extra, and in fact, a bunch of users who do that is actually a very valuable asset. Similarly, while creating our map, although it is easy to focus on big nodes, all those smaller nodes are valuable too, even if each organization contributes minimally. Check out the video if you want to hear more!<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span>Emily Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12783715695412698365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-79725223441510995032009-12-08T21:21:00.000-08:002009-12-08T21:22:28.909-08:00Six DegreesIn my Social Theory class, we recently read a book called <u>Six Degrees: The Science of A Connected Age</u> by Duncan J. Watts, which was all about networks, and I kept seeing connections to our class. In fact, I actually wrote a blog post for Social Theory about what we were doing on Project PERIS. The post was prompted by the following quote: “Like ambiguity, an organizational failure can come in many shapes and sizes—people get sick, factories burn down, computer systems crash, and large numbers of employees may have to be laid off. Sometimes disaster comes from the outside and sometimes it is generated internally…Regardless of their origins, however, what all disasters have in common is that they disable a part of what was previously a whole, functioning system….And when critical resources have been lost, the most important asset an organization can possess is easy access to the resources it has left.” Watts wrote this in reference to a potential product disaster that occurred in Toyota plants and how the company minimized the consequences. By using a less centralized more connected network for all their manufacturing, when one plant burned down, multiple plants were quickly able to pick up the slack because they shared so much information. In contrast, no one expected the disaster in New Orleans and no organizations were prepared for the ambiguity of the situation. Furthermore, with a delayed government response, hierarchical organization was not just overburdened but impossible because the government who should be at the highest position was unable to coordinate other specialized response teams. Because responses to disasters are normally so centralized, in the face of a crisis without that leadership, the organization of other services broke down. If New Orleans disaster response was organized like Toyota with a more robustly connected system through all levels of leadership as opposed to a hierarchical system, the consequences could have been much more minor. I think the same lessons can be applied to Somerville. We are creating a more connected system.Emily Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12783715695412698365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-35827854612215927962009-12-08T18:36:00.000-08:002009-12-08T19:34:01.501-08:00This Week's Reading<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This week's reading is from a workbook that's whole focus is to help organizations connect with their surrounding community and learn to utilize whatever assets the community has to offer in order to form strong community-based projects. It lists three main goals, all of which essentially boil down to strengthening both communities and organizations through interaction with one another. After reading this, what I found to be extremely encouraging was how relevant our project is to the goals this workbook pushes organizations to achieve. BLink's whole purpose is to build connections. With BLink, communities, organizations, people, businesses, etc. can all communicate with each other and hopefully combine resources to make everyone more successful in achieving their goals. BLink will foster strong community-based projects. The reading talks about the importance of relationships with local residents, marginalized residents, associations, local economy - the list goes on. And BLink, I would say, provides organizations with the opportunity to strengthen their relationships in every one of those areas. It's cool to see just how important our project is to community organizing. One of the pages in the workbook actually encourages organizations to draw out their own map of connections, complete with existing and potential lines! </span>Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13397499895302774732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-55166523267100816002009-12-07T16:24:00.000-08:002009-12-07T16:54:46.156-08:00Social Isolation and New TechnologyLast month, the <a href="http://pewresearch.org/">Pew Research Center</a> released their <a href="http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1398/internet-mobile-phones-impact-american-social-networks">findings on a study</a> they had done to gauge whether or not internet and mobile phone use led to social isolation. This is particularly relevant to our discussion about Robert Putnam's <i>Bowling Alone</i> book. Putnam upholds the thesis that social ties are weaker now than they were 50 years ago (using the demise of bowling leagues as his star example.)<div><br /></div><div>The argument now against Putnam's premise is that it is outdated; <i>Bowling Alone</i> was written prior to the explosion of the Internet, before Facebook or MySpace or Twitter. Putnam is crippled in his discussion now because of the ubiquitous use of social networking sites and the impact they have on our daily communications.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Pew study updates Putnam's research, yet also negates it. The basis of the study <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">was </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">to explore issues that have not been probed directly in that study and other related research on social isolation: the role of the internet and mobile phone in people's core social networks.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:medium;">Ultimately the results find that Americans are not as isolated as had been reported earlier, and I found a few points especially interesting and convincing:</span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Whereas only 45% of Americans discuss important matters with someone who is not a family member, internet users are 55% more likely to have a nonkin discussion partners.</span></span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In-person contact remains the dominant means of communication with core-network members. On average, there is face-to-face contact with each tie on 210 out of 365 days per year.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Email, social networking services and instant messaging promote "glocalization" -- that is, they are used as frequently to maintain nearby core social ties as they are used to maintain ties at a distance.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The use of social networking services to maintain core networks is highest among 18-22-year-olds. Thirty percent of 18-22-year-olds use a social networking service to maintain contact with 90% or more of their core influentials.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Users of social networking services are 26% less likely to use their neighbors as a source of companionship, but they remain as likely as other people to provide companionship to their neighbors.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Owners of a mobile phone, frequent internet users at work and bloggers are more likely to belong to a local voluntary group, such as a neighborhood association, sports league, youth group, church or social club.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Compared to those who do not use the internet, most people who use the internet and use a social networking service, such as Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn, have social networks that are about 20% more diverse.</span></span></span></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">As someone who falls within the 18-22 year old demographic, I must agree with Pew's findings on our high rates of social networking use. In the future, I'd like to see them extrapolate this data across age demographics as well as comment on the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">quality</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> of these interactions.</span></span></span></div></div>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05698162277716750921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-61162188373449055392009-12-07T14:24:00.000-08:002009-12-07T15:03:01.847-08:00Social Networking in Advertising<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5tBFeDUTliw/Sx2JcZq6AFI/AAAAAAAADJg/ADxiKpVOzyg/s1600-h/IMG00378.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5tBFeDUTliw/Sx2JcZq6AFI/AAAAAAAADJg/ADxiKpVOzyg/s400/IMG00378.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412633448189395026" /></a><br /><div>I saw this billboard advertisement in the O'Hare airport when I was flying back to school after Thanksgiving vacation. I took a picture of it because I think it is a great representation of social networking <i>online</i> interacting with social networking <i>offline</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>There has been such a huge push to get companies in on the social media bandwagon. From Twitter to Facebook pages to mobile applications like <a href="http://www.foursquare.com">foursquare</a>, companies and people are interacting on the Internet. While these interactions are important and provide a new and dynamic way to engage the consumer (or the business), it is important to remember that we do still exist in a real, non-virtual world where we interact with people face to face every day.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think Marriott does a great job of bringing it full circle by associating their hotel lobbies with social networking, because it is. It was the original. The black-and-white movie era hotel lobby was a place of intrigue and romance, and it has been replaced by our virtual existences. By combining the two images into one advertisement, Marriott captures the attention of the consumer with a successful advertisement.</div>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05698162277716750921noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-1516655107282495192009-12-07T10:17:00.000-08:002009-12-07T14:24:39.689-08:00Meeting with Tufts and UMass BostonJust before Thanksgiving Break, I had the opportunity to meet with a few UMass Boston students about their uses of the software. Since the class associated with BLink is completely different than our class, it was really valuable to have insight into their uses and perspective on the software.<div><br /></div><div>There were a few major differences between the two schools. First of all, UMass Boston has a strong reputation for remaining very engaged with the organizations in their communities on a consistent basis. Therefore they were very invested in the organizations they added to the map. They also added fewer organizations, but there is more information available about the organization, including names of administrators and phone numbers and best ways to contact them, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>Secondly, they deal with a diverse population of community members, and many of them don't speak English. There is a desire to have the BLink website available in Vietnamese as well as other languages so that the entire community can access and benefit from the site.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thirdly, they see a huge opportunity for this site to be a collection of resources that community members need, such as where to vote, how to get a state ID card, who to contact in different situations, etc. There is a lack of centralization with all of this information and if you don't know what you're looking for or how to find it, it can be very difficult information to access.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other topics discussed included privacy setting issues, as well as different Facebook applications (such as games).</div>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05698162277716750921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-59136074720251370232009-12-04T19:02:00.001-08:002009-12-04T19:09:29.328-08:00Groundworks SomervilleHere is my new node for groundworks somerville. I figured I'd post exactly what I emailed them, since it worked out and they actually responded to the questions, even if it did take a while. It is quite interesting to read that even they are not 100% sure about the status of Somerville. It made me think about our website, and how people will learn about the different organizations and people in Somerville, but what about Somerville itself? Will we/should we have a page where people can learn and explore about the issues that need to be addressed within the community?<div><br /><div><!--StartFragment--> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in">In your own words, can you please tell me about the word you do in and for Somerville?</li></ol>Groundwork Somerville is a community-based organization designed to serve as a catalyst for reuse of former brownfield sites and for community revitalization in Somerville. The organization is an affiliate of Groundwork USA, a network of organizations created by the National Park Service and modeled after the successful network of 43 Groundwork organizations in the United Kingdom. Groundwork Somerville is one of a small number of organizations nationwide that have received planning and startup grants of $100,000 from the National Park Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is currently governed by a Board of Directors representing a cross-section of non-profit groups, community-based organizations, public agencies and business interests in Somerville.<br /><ol style="margin-top:0in" start="2" type="1"><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in">How is your organization dealing with economic downturn?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is it affecting your organization, either negatively or positively?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is the downturn affecting the population that your organization serves?<o:p></o:p></li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal"> Our organization has not felt the squeeze as much as other non-profits, largely because there are many grants for “green” projects trickling down from the government, which is a label that basically covers all the different programs we run.</p> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="3" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in">In your opinion, what is the main economic need(s) of Somerville?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is your organization addressing that need(s)?<o:p></o:p></li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal"> I don’t know enough about the different aspects of Somerville to say with any authority, but I know from experience that Somerville Public Schools are very poor, and I think the many afterschool programs Groundwork runs with all age levels helps to inject some science and outdoor hands on learning into the curriculum.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <br /> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="4" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in">We’re trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What/who are the three most important partnerships you have—and/or—the organizations you work most closely with?<o:p></o:p></li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal"> Difficult to say because our different programs have different needs, but overall probably Tufts University, Somerville Public Schools, and the City of Somerville </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div></div>Deanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06018192089261741232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-71374002561294681632009-12-04T11:09:00.001-08:002009-12-04T11:10:08.478-08:00Outreach Opportunity - Launch<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Kretzmann and McKnight’s <i>Community Building Workbook</i><span style="font-style:normal"> provides a thorough guide with which to analyze the extent in what manners and the extent to which an organization is involved in the local community. I went through the survey questions using our project as the organization to try to discover where our strengths and our weaknesses lie. It is clear that our project’s greatest strength lies in its objective of having a direct economic impact on the community by mobilizing resources (volunteering) specifically within the local community. However, going through the questions, one weakness of our project that struck me is the extent to which we are engaged with institutions and organizations of Somerville. We are building this networking map on a fairly large scale, and yet the organizations we are hoping to connect have little (if any) knowledge of the project. Considering that the launch of our map is coming up, I think our project’s prospects for success could be greatly increased by outreach aimed specifically at getting organizational and institutional participation. The easiest and most cost efficient way would be to draft a newsletter type email to be sent to the organizations that are already on the map (or maybe send out hard copies—but this would cost money) announcing our launching, goals, and ways to participate. However we approach this, our launching presents an excellent opportunity to contact these organizations and get them excited about the map, being more tangible and useful to the organizations than when we were simply contacting them for information.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Zoe Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13948238114255546000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-22737602278474713372009-12-01T18:42:00.000-08:002009-12-01T18:48:16.110-08:00Facebook changes as community changesiAlthough this is not about our site or the project at all, I thought that it was an interesting bit of information on how networks evolve.<div><br /></div><div>These are excerpts from an open letter to all users of Facebook from the creator, Mark Zuckerberg</div><div><br /></div><div>-<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; ">Facebook's current privacy model revolves around "networks" — communities for your school, your company or your region. This worked well when Facebook was mostly used by students, since it made sense that a student might want to share content with their fellow students.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">-However, as Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy. Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><br />The plan we've come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">-We've worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone's needs are different. We'll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you're sharing with online.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><br />Thanks for being a part of making Facebook what it is today, and for helping to make the world more open and connected.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; ">well, thats actually a large portion of the letter. I just found it very very interesting.</span></span></span></div>Katherine McManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14457273052518583298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-9116744473964807572009-11-30T09:30:00.000-08:002009-11-30T09:33:19.983-08:00Some interesting design for the mapHi guys!<br /><br />I have to do a mapping project for my design class. I browse through the internet to look for some cool and interesting design to stir some ideas for the project. I found this one website that is really pretty. It shows so many different design for mapping. You guys can browse around and check out the many patterns they offer...<br />http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/search.cfm?input=map<br /><br />It is just an idea that we could make our website look a little bit - I know that we are pretty much set with circle, but looking for new things wouldn't hurt, right?honey.mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03028477232799065211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-55607647536437416132009-11-30T04:52:00.000-08:002009-11-30T05:19:05.107-08:00Users connecting to OrgsWelcome back to Medford/Somerville everyone... While I was in Virginia for thanksgiving I grabbed a UVA newspaper and it finally surfaced in my book bag this morning, and some clever little Cavalier designed this comic:<br /><br />"<br />Facebook needs more options than 'Send Friend Request." Lots of people on Facebook are not my friend.<br /><br />(insert sad face stick figure drawing)<br /><br /><u><b><br />____________<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Send a Message</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">View friends<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Send Friend Request<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Send Enemy Request<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Send Arch Nemesis Request<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Send 'I wanna creep on your pictures' Request</span><br /><br /><br /></u></b><br /><br />So it made me wonder: how will organizations be able to control if they don't want to be linked other organizations, causes, or users? What if Tufts' LCS wanted to send an "arch nemesis request" to Jenn Bollenbacher or Dean Ladin (even if he got accepted by TFA-- congrats)?<br /><br />I don't remember us discussing this, and only touching on the idea of users being able to connect to other users.Kevin W Fenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17610941194993508205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370021987753722049.post-32860465907039154922009-11-25T15:18:00.000-08:002009-11-25T15:40:33.259-08:00An Interesting ArticleI am not usually a fan of anything written in Tufts student publications. They are usually poorly written, and unless focusing exclusively on campus issues, simply repeat information that could be found in real publications. This weeks Observer however has an article worth checking out because of its relevance to our class and that fact that its actually pretty well written.<br /><br />Micah Hauser and Michael Goetzman's article "All My Friends" about Facebook addresses lots of the issues that we talked about earlier this semester and provides an interesting perspective to add to our discussion. They make an interesting point about Facebook being similar to a small town in the larger anonymous world of the internet. Through the newsfeed people can passively take in information about all of their friends, similar to how people do offline by seeing people and hearing what friends of friends are up to. Hauser and Goetzman beleive that Facebook is a legitimate community that happens to be online. I think that we should view the website we are creating in similar terms. We are creating a legitimate online community of people who are involved in offline community activism of some kind.<br /><br />Sadly there is no link on the Observer website but you can pick up a copy around campus.Daniel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14569181059890207481noreply@blogger.com1