The Sunday Diigo Links Post (weekly)

• Caterina.net» Blog Archive » FOMO and Social Media

  This post could also be applied to glean insights into how the Sendai earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear disasters were mediated (both in the mainstream and via social media).
  QUOTE
  FOMO [fear of missing out] is a great motivator of human behavior, and I think a crucial key to understanding social software, and why it works the way it does. Many people have studied the game mechanics that keep people collecting things (points, trophies, check-ins, mayorships, kudos). Others have studied how the neurochemistry that keeps us checking Facebook every five minutes is similar to the neurochemistry fueling addiction. Social media has made us even more aware of the things we are missing out on.
  UNQUOTE

  tags: caterina_fake fomo socialmedia socialtheory

• Zanby blog: The City as Community-Building Platform

  QUOTE
  The city website of my dreams would not only let me find relevant information, process transactions, lodge complaints, and communicate with elected officials. It would help me connect with my neighbors.

  When I move into a new neighborhood, I wish I could go to the city’s website and join a group for my block (or a collection of several blocks) — complete with discussions, event calendar, photos, videos, and listings of relevant city services, businesses, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, and so forth. That way I could plug in and get to know my neighborhood (and my neighbors) quicker than ever. I could browse archived discussions to see what issues have been on my neighbors’ minds, peruse photos and videos from recent block parties and festivals, and check the calendar for upcoming events. And if I moved to a new neighborhood, I could just quit the online group for my old neighborhood and join my new one, taking my profile, friends, and history with me.

  Such a platform would give me and my neighbors a powerful tool to self-organize — everything from potlucks to crime-watch patrols, yard sales, childcare swaps, street cleanups and community meetings about city policies of interest to the neighborhood. We could organize car-, bike-, and tool-sharing coops. It would give us a quick way to share alerts about burglaries or fires.

  And it would give the city a powerful way of targeting communications to specific blocks. Need to clear the street because of a snow emergency, tree-trimming, or a broken water main? Just send a message to that block’s listserve and word will spread fast. Add an SMS gateway to send text messages to residents’ mobile phones and word will spread even faster. Connect it all to a CRM database and an Open 311 system and you’ve got a powerful tool set for citizens to engage with the city not just as individuals, but as groups, as neighborhoods, as communities.
  UNQUOTE

  

  2011 Chinese New Year Parade in Fan Tan Alley, Chinatown, Victoria BC

  tags: zanby_blog community neighborhood hyperlocal hyper_local gov2.0

• What if we’re not broke? – The Washington Post

  Must read opinion piece in the Washington-Post about Conservatives’ use of what could be called the “starve the beast” strategy: drive up bankruptcy fears to force cuts in programs – but never tax the rich. Shock doctrine…
  QUOTE
  …the fiscal issues are just an excuse for ideologically driven policies to lower taxes on well-off people and business while reducing government programs. Yet only occasionally do journalists step back to ask: Are these guys telling the truth?

  The admirable Web site PolitiFact.com examined Walker’s claim in detail and concluded flatly it was “false.”

  “Experts agree the state faces financial challenges in the form of deficits,” PolitiFact wrote. “But they also agree the state isn’t broke. Employees and bills are being paid. Services are continuing to be performed. Revenue continues to roll in. A variety of tools — taxes, layoffs, spending cuts, debt shifting — is available to make ends meet. Walker has promised not to increase taxes. That takes one tool off the table.”

  And that’s the whole point.
  UNQUOTE

  tags: washington_post economy shock_doctrine starve_the_beast republicans ej_dionne_jr

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.