Tuesday, November 26, 2002

The Cluetrain does recognize other conversations... Cyber-Rights Activists Log a Win. Spanish cyberpunks combine grassroots Internet activism with a door-to-door awareness campaign to successfully stop a regional law that would have treated cybercafes as gambling houses. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News] In Chapter 4 of Cluetrain, Doc Searls notes the history of mass media as a means of one way communication between the manufacturers and the "interchangeable customer".  The constant bombardment of ads numbs us and thus diminishes their effectiveness.  Relying solely upon such one way communication is risky -- note the number of politicians who lost this past November when they relied solely upon paid media and ignored traditional grassroots campaigns. The conversations that occur between individuals, those who praise a product or service and recommend that product or service to others is an essential complement to any advertising or communications campaign.  The activists cited in the article acknowledge that fact as they note their campaign would not have been successful had it been conducted entirely on the web. So, the lesson here is to use the web and the tools the web presents to us, such as blogs, to organize ourselves, to actually discuss the issues (and not blindly accept someone's idealogical brochure) and to act.  Call it Webroots campaigning (Oops, Webroot is a trademark!).  But, you get the point. comment [] 7:57:14 AM

Ooh... Ooh!  Neat.  The itown global network of weblogs is up and open for business.  Very nice implementation. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] This implementation of Radio addresses a lot of wishes/wants on my list.  If we are to get folks in the University community engaged with blogs, then the implementation, which includes community building (and the road signs posted by an entity such as itown are certainly needed), back office support and some old fashioned cheer leading. And, the Mayor of iTown lives in Athens.  Go Dawgs!   comment [] 7:34:15 AM