Category Archive for ‘Society’ at melanie mcbride online

Archive for the 'Society' Category

Howard Rheingold on “way-new” collaboration

Published on February 10, 2008 in Society, Video, Community, Utopia, Inspirations, Memes, Future and Best practices. 0 Comments

Recorded in 2005, Howard Rheingold talks about the critical importance of collaboration, participatory media and collective action in shaping a better and more effective world. Great historical examples of human interdependence, cooperation, helping and other civilised behaviours that helped humans to thrive and survive through adversity - all alternatives to more destructive models that have obscured reason, ethics and the simple logic of alternatives. See a complete screencast (animated visuals with voice over) here.

I suggest we honour this talk - and items like it - with the following delicious tag: “newway”

Howard has been a formative figure in my thinking about the relationship between community and reciprocity - and how all of us can contribute to the world in unique and positive ways (if only we choose to).

Second Skin: a new movie about MMOs

Published on January 29, 2008 in videogames, gaming, Society, Identity and Classroom2.0. 1 Comment

Check out the trailer for Second Skin, a new documentary about massively multiplayer online gamers. As a gaming-positive educator, I was also excited to see my friend and colleague Tony Walsh, make an appearance in the film. From Tony’s blog:

“Since 2006, I’ve been following the adventures of the team at Pure West–filmmakers researching and journaling MMO game culture for a documentary which would come to be called Second Skin. The team’s blog gave a behind-the-scenes look at the trials of the documentarians and their evolving subject-matter, but I was fortunate enough to meet the filmmakers first-hand during one of their many journeys across the U.S., Canada, and overseas. These guys weren’t just trying to cash in on the swelling interest in MMOs, or exploit players as objects of curiosity or ridicule–it was clear their mission was to seek out and reveal some compelling human stories at the intersection of real and virtual worlds.

Admittedly, I’m a console gamer although I recently enjoyed playing Wolfquest (an educational game that teaches kids about … you guessed it: life as a wolf!)

Web2.0 world changing: It’s happening already

Published on December 11, 2007 in Society, Future and Web2.0. 5 Comments

As some of us funwall our way through the day, others are using social and participatory media to shape the future. One of these people is Social Signal’s Rob Cottingham who asks Can web2.0 change the world?

“It’s easy to get fixated on the shiny toys of the Web 2.0 world: the latest invitation-only beta of the hottest new collaborative technology using the coolest whatever. Nothing wrong with that; our natural affinity for cool and new helps provide a built-in audience for technological innovators.

But the bright glare of technological promise can obscure its social impact… and not just the negative effects that technology’s critics are fond of citing.

The social web holds enormous promise for social transformation. Alex recently posted about how you can help steer the web toward that promise, but it’s also worth asking: just what makes us think the social web could be so transformative?”

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