On this day, June 10th, 2008, the news brings to our attention a vote to OK piracy, microfinance in Bosnia, Italian Hacktivism, a look at Internet fundraising on several fronts, and more.

• How about a look at the status of modern, Italian hacktivism.
• What defines “The Silence Generation?”
• Obama, delegates, and Internet donations.
• Activists seek to counter military recruiters on L.A. campuses.
• The Sweedish Left Party votes to OK piracy.
• Microfinance is blowing up in Bosnia.
• And finally, thanks to Internet fundraising and social networking], a surge is seen in political giving in Northern California.

-Filed in News

On this day, June 6th, 2008, the news brings to our attention libel as a terror tactic, Scientology versus the Internet, the never-ending praise for social networks in the student rally scene, and much, much more.

• Net issues are are hot in the ‘08 elections.
• Scientology v. The Internet (and the “terrorists” who lurk there).
• Speaking of terrorists, have you ever thought of libel as a terror tactic?
• Praise for Internet, Social Networking in student rallies.
• Is the Homegrown Terror Prevention Act a threat to the First Amendment?
• Mention of a flash mob in a reenactment of earth history (what?)
• And finally, Craig Newmark weighs in on pretty much everything.

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On this day, May 8th, 2008, the news brings to our attention bloggers for Burma, Internet fund raising as means of life support, tips for sustaining an online community by Flickr, the swelling of the social networking community, meditations on the destruction of the “netizen” by way of gadgetry, zany acts of hilarious consequence, and more.

• Apparently, the Facebook community hates Microsoft.
• Internet fund raising is reportedly keeping Sen. Clinton in the race.
• Online community membership “swells” as the market for social networking software triples.
• Flash Mob, noun, “A sort of secret event where a select few are told to gather and perform some zany act of hilarious consequence at a random place and time.”
• Burmese blogs help to mobilize fund raising efforts in response to cyclone-related destruction.
• George Oats of Flickr very generously discusses how to Internet communities best flourish.
• Jonathan Zittrain, professor of Internet governance and regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute, assets that that our “tethered appliances” like iPhones and Blackberrys create two classes of Internet-user, and this gets in the way of positive netizenry.
• Finally, if your local paper is shutting down due to layoffs, entrepreneurs like Rich Carr might suggest that you start your own news source online.

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At management blog at The Financial Times, Adam Jones discusses the pros and cons of using social networking sites for business management. Positives include, of course, a complement to face-to-face networking and, especially pertinent here, an offering of new tools for recruitment. Pitfalls include issues with confidentiality. The entry also links a Financial Times audio interview with Kevin Eyres of LinkedIn.

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The Point began as a simple observation: — if the majority disagreed with a rule, and they all took action to change it, that rule would be impossible to enforce. The Point is the result of that observation being made post the social networking revolution, which laid the groundwork for this once fanciful notion to become reality.

Community being integral to The Point, we have all the interpersonal features you would expect: add contacts, keep track of what they’re up to, send them messages, customize your profile, etc. Something like The Point would have been inconceivable before social networking broke.

But we are different from traditional social networks. Community isn’t “the point” — rather, as the clear tool for solving problems that are too big to solve alone, it’s a means to an end.

Users of The Point may choose to waive the social experience completely. Simply join a campaign, wait for notice that it has tipped, and take action, knowing that the conditions exist for you to make a difference. It’s possible to derive value from The Point without interacting with other people at all. In this sense, community becomes a background process — an unremarkable assumption of the tipping action model — like an “invisible hand” channeling self-interest into coordinated, mutually beneficial action.

This speaks to the variety of ways we can engage The Point. Most will use it socially, but those who are skeptical of cyber-relations will still enjoy The Point without them.

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