Month: February 2008

Fotolog – The Power of Images

On By Barbara Barbosa NevesLeave a comment

El Pais has an interesting interview today with Adam Seifer, co-founder of Fotolog. Adam Seifer takes a daily picture of his breakfast, lunch and dinner and publishes it on his Fotolog. This may sound absurd, but, 25.000 people see his blog per month, just to check what he is eating. However, “Is not about knowing what I eat, it’s about showing a little trace of my world”, says Adam to explain the philosophy of Fotolog, a blog composed by pictures.

Adam Seifer defends the simplicity of this network, where users communicate through pictures, towards the sophistication of other Internet social networks as Facebook or MySpace. In fact, Fotolog has more than 15 million users. This language made of images is becoming famous all over the world, but especially in the Spanish speaking countries, representing 70% of the community. First Chile, followed by Argentina and Spain. But Fotolog is more powerful than we would guess. The Chilean government solved a student’s strike and manifestation, one year ago, through a dialogue that begun in fotologs created by different university groups to show that they weren’t destroying classes and to emphasize their reinvindications. The government used their comments on fotologs to deal and to end the conflict.

Like other social networks sites, Fotolog rise through “mouth to mouth” advertisement, being developed by the so called viral effect, a potentiality of the web (although it’s not easy to create a viral effect).

For Seifer, Fotolog is competing with giants as Facebook and MySpace, because its simple, directed to the users needs and requests. Facebook and MySpace are creating confusion in users, as they are incorporating too many applications. According to him, the future belongs to specialization, networks that can be centred in concrete and coherent things.

Freedom…What a beautiful word II

On By Barbara Barbosa NevesLeave a comment


Following my previous post and according to Le Monde, the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority (PTA) announced today, 26th of February, that all Internet providers were instructed to re-establish YouTube access, as the incriminating content was deleted from the website. YouTube Society said yesterday that this Pakistani blocking was responsible for a world wide block to the website for, at least, two hours last Sunday. Although, this amend represents a positive change for all of us, especially for Pakistan, where e-censorship is increasing, the most important issue here is that governments and their associates have more power that we would expect. They seem extremely advanced technologically to have this ability to interfere with websites access all over the world….this seems even more concerning. However, by the end of the day, freedom is still a beautiful word. Will we be ever able to make it a beautiful reality?

Full story available at http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2008/02/24/le-pakistan-bloque-ses-acces-a-youtube-a-cause-de-videos-blasphematoires_1015161_3216.html#ens_id=1015172

Picture credits: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2008/02/19/eatiger119.jpg

Freedom…What a beautiful word

On By Barbara Barbosa NevesLeave a comment

The Pakistani government decided to block, until further notice, the Internet access to YouTube, since Sunday, 24th of February. Authorities have instructed Internet service providers to close this access, because it’s spreading blasphemy and represents a serious menace to Islam. Some sources state that this interdiction was related to the broadcasting of the controversial Mohamed caricatures published by Danish newspapers. Similar actions were taken in other countries like Turkey, Thailand and Morocco’s (http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2008/02/24/le-pakistan-bloque-ses-acces-a-youtube-a-cause-de-videos-blasphematoires_1015161_3216.html#ens_id=1015172).

Freedom is one of our most important treasures, even if it brings great responsibilities with it. Internet utopians saw the Internet as a freedom tool and although, it’s in fact, potential in this sense, governments/authorities have found ways to control it. Nevertheless, Internet is undoubtedly a struggle medium, used by many all over the world to resist and to mobilize. I’m not saying that Internet only brings advantages and the achievement of golden dreams; it’s a tool, a social-technical product, a human invention that can be used for both good and ill. e-censorship is the new evil and its becoming powerful. I discussed this recent case with one of my Pakistani friend’s and he was saying that we can’t understand their cultural heritage and their ideas. So this, brings contentious thoughts to me in different ways, as sociologist, a type of social-cultural translator of Humanity…Can we accept different cultures? Can we criticize their rules, actions and beliefs? Can we take our “personal eyes” and see them differently? as a person…How can we accept this in the XXI century? How can people not be free to see what they want to see? To search what they want to search? To decide by themselves? How can these repressive societies coexist with us? How can we cope with censorship in any form? And as a thinker…what is freedom? Are we all really free? As Goethe once said “None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.” The human duality is everywhere, especially in our perceptions, thoughts and feelings.

Social Fabrics

On By Barbara Barbosa NevesLeave a comment

Suggestion for Friday (if you’re in Dallas, if not you can have a look at their website):

The exhibition “Social Fabrics: Wearable + Media + Interconnectivity”.

It’s a time based exhibition designed as a modified runway show of art as wearable media and technology. Social Fabrics demonstrates convergences between individual expression and statement making, on the one hand, and the phenomenology of “network society” on the other. Technological garments or accessories with social capabilities are presented alongside works that, while perhaps not employing technology outright, comment or critique the implications of our digital media-infused and fashion driven lifestyles. Submissions are objects, (garments, handbags), systems (hardware, software), and, in a few cases, mini performances that interact in various ways with the event context. Artists included come from all over the United States and several countries abroad.

http://www.socialfabrics.org/index.html

Mobiles are bridging social-economical divisions

On By Barbara Barbosa NevesLeave a comment
Fishermen in Kerala, AP

The annual Information Economy UN report focus on how science and technology can drive long-term economic growth.

The report shows that Mobile phones and net access are helping narrow the gulf between rich and poor nations. The efficiencies of these technologies have boosted development in poorer countries. Mobile phone users in developing nations now make up 58% of handset subscribers worldwide and mobile phone had become the standard bearer for social-economic changes. In rural communities in Uganda, and the small vendors in South Africa, Senegal and Kenya mobile phones were helping traders get better prices, ensure less went to waste and sell goods quicker. The take up of mobiles was letting developing nations to “leapfrog” some generations of technology, such as fixed line telephones and obtain more instant rewards. Greater use of computers in small businesses in countries like Thailand made staff boost productive. A study of Thai manufacturing firms showed that a 10% increase in computer literate staff produced a 3.5% productivity gain.

However, there is a still big abysm remained between rich and poor and the digital divide is a crude and rude reality, especially when we look for broadband access and use. To make the most of the transformative potential of the net, mobiles and other technologies the UN report recommended that countries update cyber laws, intellectual property regulations, upgrade infrastructure and invest in training.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7232264.stm