A new age in online publishing?

It is easy to forget how the web is a new kind of space, a place where anyone who wants to can post whatever they want saying anything they like. Not like a newspaper, or a book or a radio station or TV, where there is a barrier in terms of permission or space or airwaves or supply of paper or a need for advertisers, but an infinite space just waiting for any one of us to fill with our thoughts or news or ideas or pictures or videos or sounds or whatever.

Now Posterous is pushing the boundaries even further back and may be about to change again the rules for how to get your stuff on the web, by lowering the threshold in terms of the skills and resources you need to actually have a website to publish your ideas to.

A new age in online publishing

It is easy to forget how the web is a new kind of space, a place where anyone who wants to can post whatever they want saying anything they like. Not like a newspaper, or a book or a radio station or TV, where there is a barrier in terms of permission or space or airwaves or supply of paper or a need for advertisers. But an infinite space just waiting for any one of us to fill with our thoughts or news or ideas or pictures or videos or sounds or whatever. Now Posterous is pushing the boundaries even further back and may be about to change again the rules for how to get your stuff on the web, by lowering the threshold in terms of the skills and resources you need to actually have a website to publish your ideas to.

It is easy to over state how easy it is to publish your own ideas on the web, and to overlook many significant steps that people have to take to reach the point at which the world can see the video of their cats looking in their loo. Secondly they need a computer… firstly they need electricity. They need to know how to use the computer and maybe have specific skills in using a web brwser and sending and receiving email.

They may need a digital camera, or be shown how to use the camera in their phone. They may have the ability to use SMS, but no credit – indeed no credit means no contract which probably means no broadband, at home or on the move.

But leaving aside these issues of access right now Posterous is making it possible to miss out the step that says 1) set up a website. Because now you can move to 2) post your content to your website.

This may be one small step but as the on the Next Web blog explains it is a very versatile and powerful tool that can begin to make it even easier to  post your ideas and thoughts and cat videos without needing a high level of web skills.

Oh, and it’s free…

How to do almost anything with Posterous.

Latest News from the Villages | NABUUR

Nabuur.com is a great networking site, helping to tell stories from people in villages in Africa and showing you how you can help them. There’s lots of great interactions and lots of insight into the lives of real people, missing out so much of the drama and negative filtering we often see in reporting about Africa.

Latest News from the Villages | NABUUR.

Youtube and citizen journalism

RT @media140 : #media140http://bit.ly/38G8Sl ’#YouTube to Roll Out ‘Direct’ Link to Citizen Journalism’ – potential IP challenges?

0 secs ago from TweetDeck

Do I need a social media policy?

You may be wondering how to strike the balance between giving your team the freedom to make the most of new social media whilst still retaining an appropriate degree of control. The potential benefits may be obvious but there are plenty of horror stories about dodgy posts on Facebook to give pause for thought. The newly published Online Database of Social Media Policies is a great way to learn from other organisations that are grappling with this dilemma.

Extending the Life of Your Computer

 

 

Computer specifications are constantly changing to meet the demands of new software, but many of us can make do with out the need for a new computer more than every few years. A new screen may be great if the old one is starting to hurt your eyes, but most of us can function quite happily with email, web browsing and word processing, which don’t need the latest chips or huge hard drives. Techsoup, the US-based technology advice centre for non profit organisations, has provided a very useful run down of how to extend the life of your PC. It’s a bit techie in places but offers a good way of get more from your existing investment, as well as being greener.

Extending the Life of Your Computer.

Should you ban Facebook in your office?

We all know how to waste time and we all know that the latest techie gadgets seem the consume the lives of some people that we know. But is it better to allow staff and volunteers to have access to Facebook, Twitter or other online tools? Or will they spend their time mucking about looking at pictures of cute kittens when they’re meant to be writing the next funding bid? An article on Socialnomics looks at this questions and says that it is better to offer access, and that it can make your work more effective.

Did You Know 4.0

Update 4 of the ever-popular Did You Know series of videos featuring rapid-fire facts about the world around us…

more about "Did You Know 4.0", posted with vodpod

Grassroots Grants

Looking for a pot to fund the IT needs of small groups? Have a look at Grassroots Grants, which funds small groups with grants of between £250 and £5,000, on a flexible basis that encourages people to work in manageable steps.

In terms of IT this could mean, for example, that a group buys a computer and then pays for training to learn how to get the best from it, such as investing in a laptop and training for a Treasurer in budgeting to manage the finances and support fundraising. Or it could pay for a training course for a neighbourhood group to set up and maintain its own website.

A full list of local Community Foundations that cover the south east is available on the Community Development Foundation’s website.

Do you know a Digital Hero?

There are still a few days left to nominate a Digital Hero, as part of a scheme run by TalkTalk and Citizens Online. The TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards rewards one individual from each UK region who is doing outstanding work using digital technology to bring about positive social change and improve the lives of people in their local communities.

IT Volunteers on the Isle of Wight

The Volunteer Centre on the Isle of Wight has been developing its work with IT volunteers. Since the start of 2009 five new volunteers have helped with ten new projects, with projects that include websites, databases and specialist software. Whilst many of the volunteers have been recruited from the Island one project has been successfully delivered by a website expert living in London.

Grant funding for media projects with young people

MIX MEDIABOX OPENS FOR APPLICATIONS Mediabox, the fund that offers 13-19 year olds the chance to create their own media projects and get their voices heard, opens its Mix Mediabox strand today. More details at http://tr.im/wOrB

Marketing and PR training for the third sector

Media Trust is running a PR workshop in Southampton and London which may be of interest to organisations in the south east. Planning Your PR Activities will help you develop a strategic approach to public relations, focus your activities on the right media to reach your target audience, make the most of your events and maximise coverage.

Both courses run 10am-4pm, cost £50 and are aimed at staff and volunteers from infrastructure support organisations.

• February 17 2010 – London
• March 17 2010 – Southampton

Full details available on the Media Trust website.

Facts and figures about digital inclusion

How many people have access to the internet? Are they mostly young people or mostly old people? What impact does the internet have on their lives? What about people who don’t WANT to use the internet?

Helen Milner, CEO of UK Online, has pulled together some basic facts and figures to help us understand who uses the internet, who has access to it and, more importantly, who doesn’t. She also suggests some of the ways that people may be disadvantaged by not having access. 

Public Sector moving too slowly on Green IT

Public sector organisations have agreed targets for reducing carbon emmissions related to their IT systems. The targets, set out last year by the then minister for transformational government, Tom Watson, call for all public sector organisations to cut 11.5% from carbon emissions by 2011 and for carbon neutrality by 2012. But a recent survey found 67 percent of respondents were ‘concerned’ or ‘extremely concerned’ about their organisations ability to meet the targets set out in the strategy. Read more on the eWeek website.