It felt like I jammed three months worth of stuff into one 30 day period!  Jesse and I rang the New Year in Paris and geared up for a busy and productive 2012. I#8217;m really looking forward to seeing what exciting things come  my way this year and I#8217;ve decided to do a monthly update to keep track of everything that#8217;s going on since sometimes I have a bad habit of forgetting.

nbsp;

 New Apartment

Our old apartment building was undergoing massive renovations and after what felt like endless weeks being surrounded by non-stop hammering, banging, and screeching, my Parisian sanctuary had turned into a construction hellhole. On a whim, we looked at apartments online and and went to take a look, a sort of wishful thinking exercise to get us out of the house for a while. We completely fell in love with the second place we saw and the next thing I knew, we were signing a new lease, booking movers, and buying new furniture.

I am so happy with the new apartment which includes an office and a bright, open concept living space that has rebooted my productivity and creativity levels. It#8217;s found in one of Paris#8217; oldest pedestrian passageways and is right in the heart of the city, between the second and third arrondissements.

Sandbox Global Summit #8211; Portugal

A few days after moving, I packed my bags and headed off to Lisbon, Portugal for the first annual Sandbox Global Summit. Joined by 200 other boxers, our gathering felt more like a family reunion than a conference, a weekend of great conversations and fun. As a Global Ambassador for Sandbox, I#8217;ve had the opportunity to meet with several different hubs, and let me just say that the love and friendship that was resonating from gathering a big chunk of the community together was deeply moving. You can read my full debrief here.

Summit Series Basecamp #8211; United States

I was home for an entire two days of frantic unpacking and organizing before I was back on the road, headed to the next big highlight of the January conference circuit: Summit Series Basecamp. Billed as the #8220;hipper Davos,#8221; the gathering of 650 entrepreneurs took place in Lake Tahoe at the Squaw Valley Resort. If Sandbox is like a family reunion, Basecamp was like an infusion of infectious potential, three days of expanding your horizons and being challenged, inspired and motivated to keep dreaming big dreams. I just posted my summary of Basecamp here

Bits and Pieces

I posted about Digital Decay on the Mark.

I#8217;ve officially become a contributor for The Next Web! I#8217;m working on a few pieces right now including an interview with Insead eLabs Academic Director Soumitra Dutta that will be posted in February.

Coming Up

February is unfolding at the same pace!

Next Month, I#8217;ll be traveling to Saudi Arabia to speak about ArchiTechs, presenting at TEDxESCP in Paris, and heading back to my old stomping grounds at The University of Western Ontario to speak about the impact of technology on business as well as my #8220;unconventional career path#8221; at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

nbsp;

I just came back from Summit Series Basecamp and I am still in awe. After the amazing experience I had last year at Summit@Sea, I couldn#8217;t imagine how the Summit team could replicate such a unique event, but they completely blew me away.

Half the size of last year#8217;s gathering, 650 change makers gathered at the Sqaw Valley Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe for a weekend of inspiration, learning and general awesomeness. There was so much sheer talent in one concentrated space that I#8217;m surprised the rest of the world didn#8217;t feel a shift in the time/space continuum.

Despite the spectacular backdrop of snowy peaks and evergreens against a bright blue sky, the real draw was the painstakingly deliberate curation of the sessions and attendees that created an incredible atmosphere of ideas, great conversations and tremendous learning.  It was the perfect mix of industry experts, arts and culture, personal story telling, and physical activities. A Summit experience is really hard to capture, so I#8217;ve tried to divide it out into subgroups.

The Sessions: A very small sample of my highlights

Eric Ries shared some great insights from his book The Lean-Startup focusing on the importance of early release prototypes and using customer feedback to release frequent iterations.  I learned about the value of developing and honing my intuition in business situations from the author of the Intuitive Compass, Francis Cholle.

I cheered along with the rest of the participants when the founders of Green Dot Schools shared their unbelievable case study of how they transformed some of the worst public schools in California with personalized outreach and support. We heard the story of one student,  who was shot when he was 12 years old and become too terrified to leave his home to go to school. With support from Green Dot faculty which included home visits and counseling, that same student has been accepted into college and has a GPA of 3.7.

My heart was pounding at 100 miles per minute when I heard Eve Blossom#8216;s harrowing tale of how her anti human trafficking advocacy work brought her to the attention of the very same people she was trying to stop. She was kidnapped and held hostage for a terrifying three hours by human traffickers who were annoyed that her efforts were impacting #8220;their business.#8221; Armed with nothing but bravado and #8220;an aura of invincibility, where you have to believe with all of your heart that the thought of someone hurting you is inconceivable,#8221; Eve managed to talk herself out of that situation #8211; her abductors set her free.

I had the opportunity to spend some quality time one-on-one with world renown mentalist Lior Suchard who kept blowing my skeptical little mind with his skills. My favorite mind-bender: he grabbed a deck of cards (a new one, unopened donated by poker champion Phil Gorden who was looking on in curiosity) and flipped one red card and one black card which he set, face up, on the table.

He then gave the deck to me and I shuffled it. Thoroughly. Then I shuffled it again just to be sure. He told me to use my intuition to guess if a card was red or black and to place it in the corresponding pile (the face up cards).  He touched my shoulder as I started randomly putting the cards face down into either the red pile or the black pile. When I finished the deck he took his hand from my arm and flipped all the cards over. With the exception of two cards, they had ALL been sorted into reds and blacks. My jaw hit the ground. (Despite the theories, I still haven#8217;t figured that one out!)

If you ever have the chance to see Lior in person, do it. He is an electrifying performer and one of the nicest people you#8217;ll meet!

nbsp;

Cultural Activities

My good friend Ben Henrietig taught morning breathing and meditation class and he worked with me to help develop good technique focused on eradicating stress.

I watched some of the Frozen Planet screening held in the #8220;Dome of Discovery,#8221; an igloo-like structure created by the Summit Team that#8217;s decked out with comfy foam recliners, huge fluffy pillows, ambient beats and a crazy planetarium-like visual art installation that projected images and constellations on the ceiling.

One of my favorite moments was the Falconry session, where we got up close and personal with owls, hawks and falcons.

Musically, I heard some great performances by Aloe Blacc, Jose Gonzales, Metric, and the DJ stylings of the EC Twins.

I stayed caffeinated thanks to the friendly folks at Handsome Coffee and their stand freely offering some of the best coffee I#8217;ve had in a long time.

The People

It hard to sum up the great conversations I had with so many people. Every meal, every coffee break, every session was an opportunity to get to know someone fascinating. I was introduced to Dr. Amy Lehman who shared the challenges she faced with her most recent project: a floating medical clinic providing healthcare services to remote communities in Africa. We chatted about life, love and everything in between. 

Author Michael Ellsberg kindly offered to give me some advice on ArchiTechs. VC/Super tech entrepreneur Jim Pitkow and I had an incredible conversation about the power of purposeful manifestation- the last subject I#8217;d ever thought I#8217;d discuss with a VC! He gave me one of my favorite quotes of the weekend: #8220;You are the co-author of your own life. You can either choose to live magically or un-magically. If you choose to live magically, stop being surprised when magical things happen!#8221; This was said in reference to my surprise at how fortunate I had been in my serendipitous encounters throughout the weekend.

I bonded with fellow Canadians Dan Martell, founder of Clarity, and Harley Finklestein and Toby Shannan of Shopify.

As always, I roomed with one of my favorites, Ms. Robyn Scott, and it was so nice to have a co-conspirator to rehash the day#8217;s events with. I hadn#8217;t seen Lara Setrakian since Summit last year, and as usual her updates, including her recent announcement as a WEF Young Global Leader left me feeling so proud!

Summit Series is a friendship incubator, a place where you can form life long friendships with a diverse and intelligent group of people linked by their passion for leading unconventional lives and leaving the world in a better state than when they found it.

All in all, an enormous kudos to the Summit Team for putting on such a great event. I can#8217;t wait to see what they come up with next year. Summit Series Space?!

nbsp;

** Disclosure: I am a Global Ambassador of Sandbox***

#8220;Don#8217;t be afraid to use your knuckles.#8221; This is the advice given to me by DJ Saul, who is teaching a small group of us how to throw a proper punch. DJ, when not playing Mr. Miyagi to our Karate Kid is the VP of New Ventures at iStrategy Labs and a fellow Sandboxer. He#8217;s volunteered to share his knowledge about some of the basics of self defence.

I#8217;m in Lisbon, Portugal on the third floor of MUDE (the design museum) here for the first ever Sandbox Global Summit. Sandbox is a global network of selected innovators under 30, a community of over 600 people in 48 countries and 23 hub cities, including Cairo, New York, Nairobi, Singapore, Mexico City, Bangalore, and San Francisco.

For the next three days 200 Boxers and various mentors will gather to share ideas, wisdom, experiences and laughter. The goal of the Summit is to foster meaningful relationships within a community that is driven to create a positive impact in the world.

Peer to Peer Learning: We#8217;re in this together

The vibe is laid back, fun, and inspiring. There are no speakers here, instead Sandboxers host peer-to-peer sessions covering a wide variety of subjects:

•  «On Stealing Ideas» by Mattan Griffel, CEO of a NYC-based digital agency

• «How to have the luck of the Irish and pour the perfect pint of Guinness» by William McQuillan, Founder and CEO of Osmoda.com

•  «Social enterprise future moulded by Asia» by Kalsoom Lakhani, Founder of Invest2Innovate, and Achyutha Sharma, Director of Sulochana Development Trust.

Friendships First: What do you need? How can I help?

It was remarkable to be around such a motivated group of people, each exceptional in their respective fields. What really set this weekend apart was the unwavering sense of giving and support, and the desire to help each other overcome challenges and obstacles. #8220;What do you need? How can I help?#8221; were two of the most often repeated questions I heard over the weekend. Members are genuinely invested in helping each other succeed.

It doesn#8217;t feel like a network, it feels like a family. Prior to meeting in person, I had only exchanged a few emails with John Egan (Dublin Ambassador, Founder Archipelago), yet we slipped effortlessly into hour long conversations as though we#8217;d known each other for years. I quickly discovered that I shared an identical sense of humor to our Amsterdam ambassador Tim Rutten (who I#8217;d previously met in Miami), and found myself laughing the entire weekend.

Somehow, I had found myself in the middle of a global family of people who were some of the most caring, intelligent, inspiring people I have ever met. Tara (Port-du-Prince), Niamh (New York), Kalsoom (the magical land of Pakistan), Nico (Zurich), Fabian (New York), Antoine (Berlin), Steve (New York), John R (Wagadu), Toby (Amsterdam), Will (London), Kasper (Copenhagen), Galal (Cairo) have become an important part of my digital tribe, essential anchors of support, friendship and humor that I can count on as I navigate the perils and pitfalls of following an unconventional path.

In fact, I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my closest friends Robyn Scott (Author, Founder of OneLeap.to, and another friendship I have Sandbox to thank for #8211; we met in Paris in 2010.) She echoed my sentiments. #8220;It#8217;s rare to find a gathering of people that embody a sense of family who are all brilliant and have your best interests at heart.#8221;

If this all sounds a little sentimental it#8217;s is because, to be honest, I was caught completely off guard. I#8217;ve never bonded with so many people at once before, shared such strong connections.

I will definitely be following up this with a more analytic perspective of the impact that technology has had on the the creation and maintenance of these types of networks, but for now, I#8217;m just looking at my calendar already trying to figure out when we can be together again.

nbsp;

nbsp;

Thanks to social-networking sites like Facebook, many of the people that otherwise would have drifted out of our lives can now be linked to us indefinitely online, keeping track of us in the virtual world even if we no longer have any contact with them in “real life.” It#8217;s a peculiar situation, evidenced by the introduction of terms like “Facebook Creeping” and FOMO (fear of missing out) into our vocabularies. But what are the wider implications of these changes?

Social networks enable us to cheat the natural order of things. In our ability to pore over photo albums and analyze status updates, we gain access to information that#8217;s generally reserved for a close friend without actually having to be one. We look at others’ profiles because we are nosy, and because we want to make sure we#8217;re not missing out – that we#8217;re on par with our colleagues and friends. Furthermore, social networks create unnatural digital bonds that keep us entangled in unnecessary relationships. Most of the time it#8217;s harmless, but in certain cases (ex-boyfriends, toxic friendships) these relationships could be unhealthy. A 2011 study identified a condition called “Facebook Envy” arguing that reading what others share on social networks might actually have a negative impact on mood. The existence of #8220;Facebook Depression#8221; is also being debated among health-care professionals.

nbsp;

I believe it is the lack of natural social decay that is driving some of these behaviours. After all, while some relationships end explosively, the majority decay naturally in a slow and gradual process. We drift apart. We lose contact. Far from replicating this natural passive disconnection online, we are forced to deliberately hit the “Unfriend” button, severing the connection in a swift and decisive manner. #8220;Unfriending#8221; is seen as a digitally aggressive act, and can often carry social implications in the real world. (An extreme example: In Iowa, a woman was arrested for burning down the house of someone who had unfriended her on Facebook.) It#8217;s much easier to simply stay connected to these people online, even if we never communicate with them. Thus, we continue to be #8220;Facebook friends#8221; with people who aren#8217;t really our friends.

Is it really necessary to stay connected to such people? Of course not, but many of us do so because it’s easier than having to look your colleague in the eye and explain why you haven#8217;t accepted his or her friend request yet. We#8217;d rather avoid that awkward moment, so we continue to broadcast pieces of our digital selves to an ever-growing circle that includes bosses, acquaintances, and distant relatives. The result? A need for better and more comprehensive privacy policies that take into account these social complexities.

These policies, however, are often in opposition to the corporate bottom line. Consider, for instance, Facebook#8217;s never-ending push for users to publicly share more information about themselves. It is in Facebook#8217;s best interest for us to continue to “friend” as many people as possible, as it provides the company with more data that it can extract and sell. As a result, Facebook is becoming a broader web that documents the connections of the people we have encountered in our lives, rather than a representation of our closest friends. For Mark Zuckerberg, social decay shouldn#8217;t exist at all.

nbsp;

This, however, is not the only option.

One company that is introducing an alternative approach is Path, a mobile social network that uses the principles of Dunbar#8217;s Number in an effort to manage social decay. Dunbar’s Number (commonly cited as 150) comes from the work of British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, and represents the “cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships.”

Once users reach that 150 limit on Path, they#8217;ll only be able to add another friend by cutting someone from their list. In this way, Path forces people to constantly evaluate their existing friendships by facing social decay head on.

It will be interesting to see how this social dynamic plays out. If I have 1,000 friends, I might not notice if someone has unfriended me – but I will definitely notice if I#8217;m cut from a list of 150 people, especially if we have mutual friends. What impact will this have?

In this age of social networking, algorithms will continue to evolve to account for the various types of digital relationships that we have. Facebook and Path seem to be taking this in two very different directions, but is either one the right solution? Is there a way to organize our social relationships online that doesn’t lead to unhealthy behaviour?

nbsp;

Also posted on The Mark News

China Town Gates. I’m craving some dim sum!

Doing a tour of Washington, DC. The Capitol Building!

First off, sorry if there are multiple posts I’m having some issues with tumblr.

Anyway I’m in the Vancouver lounge waiting for my flight.

Just wanted to give a quick kudos to William from the concierge office who helped me solve a small glitch quickly and with a smile. Competent and fiendly service is alway appreciated and really sets the tone for the rest of the flight.

Hopefully this post goes through!

Getting ready to have dinner in beautiful Vancouver.

For some reason I find this BettyBoop luggage set ridiculous. I would be slightly embarrassed to fly with it. One piece says: I’m fun and don’t take travel that seriously. The set says: I put in effort to evaluate a set and this is what I came up with.

The view of Panama City from the air. Pretty.

Hanging out in the Star Alliance Continental Lounge in Panama city.

Omg. This woman let her kid sprawl out between her legs during a bumpy landing. COPA flight fail!

Hola Panama City! The view as we landed was beautiful.

Watch them explain the campaign in their own words:

Why I love this campaign:

1) Use what you have:

There was no need to develop a fancy application or create a complicated web presence. They used two existing features that most users were already familiar with: tagging pictures and the sharing functionality.

2) Clear strategic objectives:

They knew what they wanted to accomplish: get people talking about the launch of the store and spread the news to their online network. The entry barrier to participate was very low. Anyone could easily and quickly be a part of the campaign.

3) A realistic campaign life cycle:

They set a clear deadline (12 days) and the end point for the campaign was clearly communicated to all  members. As more organizations execute social media strategies our attention spans will continue to shrink. I think many organizations have a misguided notion that they have to build a long lasting community of people who will remain engaged with the brand for months.

I can see where this perspective comes from considering building an online community of active members take a lot of time and effort and companies want to see some bang for their buck. However, as Ikea proves you can have an effective campaign with a shorter life cycle that is just as effective in getting the job done. I do want to point out that I am referring to specifically branded campaigns and not Ikearsquo;s overall web presence.

4) They incented the right actions:

It really makes me laugh. People love getting things for free. Whatever it is, if itrsquo;s free someone will happily take it. AND theyrsquo;ll tell their friends about it. Ikea was able to move the online discussion beyond the boundaries of one photo album and into the digital common space by counting on the fact that people will gloat about their free loot. And it worked like a charm.Whether it was announcing that they won something, or encouraging their friends to take part it made sense for people to talk about the campaign.

Well done Ikea!!

Many thanks to my friend Kimmo Kuortti, Director of International Relations at the University of Oulu in Finland for sharing this wonderful video with me!

A small highlight:

In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes businesses and organizations make when it comes to social media and branding?

The most common mistake I see are businesses who think they need to be doing every new thing. They are all over the place simply because they feel like they should be without necessarily considering how much value it’s adding to their overall strategic objectives.

Your best bet is to really sit down and think your strategy through. Where are your consumers naturally congregating online? What are they doing there? How would you like to engage with them?

These thoughts have to be carefully considered before entering this space, otherwise you end up wasting valuable time and money, not to mention potentially irritating potential customers as well.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Just a quick update from Davos. Itrsquo;s been a great annual meeting so far. More details to come after, but I thought I would share this brief cameo I made on a German news progam discussing what the Forumrsquo;s Global Partnership to Assist Haitirsquo;s Economic Development, a partnership wersquo;ve launched with the Clinton Foundation and the UN.

Just a quick update from Davos. Itrsquo;s been a great annual meeting so far. More details to come after, but I thought I would share this brief cameo I made on a German news program discussing what the Forumrsquo;s Global Partnership to Assist Haitirsquo;s Economic Development, a partnership wersquo;ve launched with the Clinton Foundation and the UN.

Itrsquo;s incredible how much can change in one year. At this time last year, I was working as a volunteer on Barack Obamarsquo;s New Media Team in Chicago. It was Election day and everyone was wound up tight with anticipation, excitement and fear. I had spent the last few months working with some of the brightest minds in digital media and strategy and it all came down to this day.

In celebration of that historic win, I am sharing some of my personal videos of my time at the campaign.

Sharing Some Down Time:

Everyone on the team worked long hours, 7 days a week. It was nice to find a few minutes to be able to unwind and have a little fun.

We Win Michigan:

We just won Michigan, and the whole office was gathered around the television, cheering and clapping.

Trolley of Change

As soon as we were sure of the results, we hopped on the trolley and headed down to Grant Park.

November 2009

Exactly a year later, I had written a book about my experiences and am now living in Geneva to work on a project for the World Economic Forum.

I still vividly remember the morning of November 5, I felt like the whole world was different, a little brighter. I knew it wouldnrsquo;t last forever, so I just savored the day, and the feeling that we could accomplish just about anything we set our mind to.

Happy November 4th!!

It is now also available for the Amazon Kindle.

Also a very special thanks to everyone who has emailed me to let me know how much they liked the book. It is such a thrill to receive each and every one of your notes and never fails to brighten my day. Over the next few weeks, in celebration of the one year anniversary of the election victory, I will be sharing some of my personal pictures and behind-the-scenes footage of working on the New Media team. Itrsquo;s going to be fun to relive that time again!

Can you believe itrsquo;s already October? Where has 2009 gone?

Using social media sites to organize and mobilize groups of people is nothing new. What I am finding particularly intriguing as I watch the Iranian Election crisis unfold, is how some of these social networks are making decisions as corporate entities that are evolving their roles from neutral platforms to powerful players within a new digital narrative. Itrsquo;s no longer about USERS leveraging a sitersquo;s features, but organizational decisions that are being made which are  adding a new variable to social mediarsquo;s role in impacting global change.

For the first time, tech companies like Twitter, Facebook amp; Google are taking direct action in response to an unfolding crisis and are having a big impact. Irsquo;m trying to puzzle out the corporate agendas behind these acts as well as thinking of the implications that these decisions will have on driving the development of governmental IT policies and the creation of emerging digital rights legislation.

1) Twitter Reschedules Maintenance after US Government Appeal

The US State Department asked Twitter to reschedule its maintenance in order to keep the service available to Iranians so they could continue to share up to the second reports of the unfolding situation. A CNN blog post reported that US Government officials are pushing to ensure that they (and the rest of the world) continue to receive as much information as possible from social networking and content sharing sites. With this request coming from the US Government, it is clear that social media channels are being monitored by the Obama administration which has no official relationship with Iran. The content they are receiving through Twitter, Facebook and Youtube is an invaluable source of information.

Twitter made the corporate decision to change their maintenance date to provide the Iranian people the opportunity to share information at a critical juncture.

On to Facebook amp; Google

2) Facebook releases Persian Translation

On June 18, Mashable reported that Facebook has released an early version of the platform in Persian in direct response to the Iran Elections Crisis:

The Persian translation is already live on Facebook, but the company warns that it’s a test version. In other words, the company and its 400+ volunteer translators have not completed all the steps to assure that all translations are correct, so the text or language may be awkward in places. Here’s what Facebook said in a draft release that should appear later tonight:

“Since the Iranian election last week, people around the world have increasingly been sharing news and information on Facebook about the results and its aftermath. Much of the content created and shared on Facebook related to these events has been in Persian – the native language of Iran – but the users have had to navigate the site in English or other languages.

Today we’re making the entire site available in a test version of Persian, so Persian speakers inside of Iran and around the world can begin using it in their native language.

Persian was already in translation before worldwide attention turned to the Iranian elections, but because of the sudden increase in activity we decided to launch it sooner than planned. This means that the translation isn’t perfect, but we felt it was important to help more people communicate rather than wait.”

3) Google Introduces Farsi support for Google Translate

Not to be outdone by Facebook and Twitter, the search-engine giant announced they would be offering Farsi support for their Google Translate tool. The service was hastily launched meaning users may experience some bugs and delays for now.  According to the Google Blog:

“Today, we added Persian (Farsi) to Google Translate. This means you can now translate any text from Persian into English and from English into Persian — whether it’s a news story, a website, a blog, an email, a tweet or a Facebook message. The service is available free at http://translate.google.com.

We feel that launching Persian is particularly important now, given ongoing events in Iran. Like YouTube and other services, Google Translate is one more tool that Persian speakers can use to communicate directly to the world, and vice versa — increasing everyone’s access to information.

As with all machine translation, it’s not perfect yet. And we’re launching this service quickly, so it may perform slowly at times. We’ll keep a close watch and if it breaks, we’ll restore service as quickly as we can.rdquo;

Mulling it over: What about China?

So I am left with more questions than answers. Are the these companies remaining neutral or being subversive? If the Iranian government succeeds in suppressing rioters, will there be consequences for online companies who can be blamed for promoting civil unrest? Or will it be citizens who find their online rights even more curtailed than before? Governments will have to think about their technology approach, theyrsquo;ll probably take a cue from the Obama administrationrsquo;s decision to hire a CTO. I find myself wondering what the Iranian government has learned from this process and how they will adapt to these collaborative technologies in the future?

I really want to believe that these actions are a step in the right direction for transparency and greater access to information. However, the cynical part of me remains caustic. Was this a move to help a troubled part of the world or a great opportunity for some PR?

With big statements from all of these companies regarding Iran, I wonder why we donrsquo;t hear as much about China, who continues to block sites such as YouTube and heavily censored everything from the Economist to the Huffington Post for the anniversary of Tianemen Square.  Maybe China is just too profitable a market to risk its wrath? In fact, just today, the Chinese Government ordered Google to place even more restrictions on some of the sites it makes available.

What do you think?

In the next part of this mini-series, I will take a look at how social media is redefining activism and how people are showing their support worldwide.

Using social media sites to organize and mobilize groups of people is nothing new. What I am finding particularly intriguing as I watch the Iranian Election crisis unfold, is how some of these social networks are making decisions as corporate entities that are evolving their roles from neutral platforms to powerful players within a new digital narrative. Itrsquo;s no longer about USERS leveraging a sitersquo;s features, but organizational decisions which are adding a new variable to social mediarsquo;s role in impacting global change.

For the first time, tech companies like Twitter, Facebook amp; Google are taking direct action in response to an unfolding crisis and are having a big impact. Irsquo;m trying to puzzle out the corporate agendas behind these acts as well as thinking of the implications that these decisions will have on driving the development of governmental IT policies and the creation of emerging digital rights legislation.

1) Twitter Reschedules Maintenance after US Government Appeal

The US State Department asked Twitter to reschedule its maintenance in order to keep the service available to Iranians so they could continue to share up to the second reports of the unfolding situation. A CNN blog post reported that US Government officials are pushing to ensure that they (and the rest of the world) continue to receive as much information as possible from social networking and content sharing sites. With this request coming from the US Government, it is clear that social media channels are being monitored by the Obama administration which has no diplomatic relationship with Iran. The content they are receiving through Twitter, Facebook and Youtube is an invaluable source of information.

Twitter made the corporate decision to change their maintenance date to provide the Iranian people the opportunity to share information at a critical juncture.

On to Facebook amp; Google

2) Facebook releases Persian Translation

On June 18, Mashable reported that Facebook released an early version of the platform in Persian in direct response to the Iran Elections Crisis:

The Persian translation is already live on Facebook, but the company warns that it’s a test version. In other words, the company and its 400+ volunteer translators have not completed all the steps to assure that all translations are correct, so the text or language may be awkward in places. Here’s what Facebook said in a draft release that should appear later tonight:

“Since the Iranian election last week, people around the world have increasingly been sharing news and information on Facebook about the results and its aftermath. Much of the content created and shared on Facebook related to these events has been in Persian – the native language of Iran – but the users have had to navigate the site in English or other languages.

Today we’re making the entire site available in a test version of Persian, so Persian speakers inside of Iran and around the world can begin using it in their native language.

Persian was already in translation before worldwide attention turned to the Iranian elections, but because of the sudden increase in activity we decided to launch it sooner than planned. This means that the translation isn’t perfect, but we felt it was important to help more people communicate rather than wait.”

3) Google Introduces Farsi support for Google Translate

Not to be outdone by Facebook and Twitter, the search-engine giant announced they would be offering Farsi support for their Google Translate tool. The service was hastily launched meaning users may experience some bugs and delays for now.  According to the Google Blog:

“Today, we added Persian (Farsi) to Google Translate. This means you can now translate any text from Persian into English and from English into Persian — whether it’s a news story, a website, a blog, an email, a tweet or a Facebook message. The service is available free at http://translate.google.com.

We feel that launching Persian is particularly important now, given ongoing events in Iran. Like YouTube and other services, Google Translate is one more tool that Persian speakers can use to communicate directly to the world, and vice versa — increasing everyone’s access to information.

As with all machine translation, it’s not perfect yet. And we’re launching this service quickly, so it may perform slowly at times. We’ll keep a close watch and if it breaks, we’ll restore service as quickly as we can.rdquo;

Mulling it over: What about China?

So I am left with more questions than answers. Are the these companies remaining neutral or being subversive? If the Iranian government succeeds in suppressing rioters, will there be consequences for online companies who can be blamed for promoting civil unrest? Or will it be citizens who find their online rights even more curtailed than before?

Governments will have to think about their technology approach, theyrsquo;ll probably take a cue from the Obama administrationrsquo;s decision to hire a CTO. I find myself wondering what the Iranian government has learned from this process and how they will adapt to these collaborative technologies in the future.

I really want to believe that Twitter, Facebook and Googlersquo;s actions are a step in the right direction for transparency and greater access to information. However, the cynical part of me remains caustic. Was this a move to help a troubled part of the world or a great opportunity for some PR?

With official statements regarding Iran, I wonder why we donrsquo;t see as much of a push for digital rights in China? The Chinese government  continues to block sites such as YouTube and heavily censored everything from the Economist to the Huffington Post for the anniversary of Tianemen Square.  Maybe China is just too profitable a market to risk its wrath? In fact, just today, the Chinese Government ordered Google to place even more restrictions on some of the sites it makes available.

What do you think?

In the next part of this mini-series, I will take a look at how social media is redefining activism and how people are showing their support worldwide.

I think my favorite part is meeting so many cool people who shared their own favorite campaign moments with me.

As the afternoon progressed I become increasingly nervous for the official launch. Rotman had contacted me to let me know that there were over 400 people attending! Having my longtime mentor, Don Tapscott (who also wrote the forward to my book) introduce me was such an emotional moment for me, and I became doubly nervous knowing he would be in the audience. Once I got underway I started feeling all of the support pouring in from my family and friends  and got through the presentation without any major hitches.

I just want to say a big, big, BIG thank you to everyone who came out to support me or who send their digital love via   facebook messages, emails, text messages and tweets. I could not have gotten through the last few months without the humor and warmth of my community and I count myself to be so blessed to have such amazing friends in my life.

Irsquo;ll be touring around various places promoting the book for the rest of the year, but I am happy to say that this month has been the peak of the insane travel I have planned. I just might get to enjoy living in Europe for a while instead of constantly trekking back and forth to North America in the mother of all commutes, lol.

I have sorely missed my blog and plan to revive TED Tuesdays with a vengeance, along with a few more blog series I have kicking around. I am a bit behind in terms of my schedule, but hopefully after this week Irsquo;ll be back on top of everything.

The Foush is back!

You can take a peek here:

Coming up: An interview on BNN, and photos from the official YES WE DID booklaunch party at Rotman!!