Blog the Change You Wish to See in the World

So last night I spoke on a panel about blogging when I was reminded — hey, I haven’t my blog in almost a year. Truth is, for me, Twitter and Facebook have replaced my need for blogging. Why communicate into the void of the blogosphere when a few thousand people have already opted in to hear from me on social networks?

Well, one reason to keep blogging is Blog Action Day. Which is today, October 15th.

Blog Action Day is “an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.” And blogs can do this better than social networks in some ways because a blog post is semi-permanent, searchable by Google, etc. — all of which gives more weight to a statement made on a blog.

So…. Take Action: Tell the U.S. it’s Time to Act on Climate Change: More than any other country, action taken by the United States to limit greenhouse gases and build a clean energy economy is needed to achieve a sustainable solution to our global climate crisis.

You can help out by joining those across the world calling on President Obama to lead on climate change.

Meanwhile, check out a few of my favorite green peeps at Live Earth and FIJI Green.

So I’m back co-teaching another semester at USC in Los Angeles, and having a blast.

The class is “Introduction to Online Communities (CMGT-534)” and I teach it along with Karen North as part of the very timely and professionally relevant  Annenberg Program on Online Communities, of which Karen is the Director.

Quick blurb on the class:

The Introduction to Online Communities course provides a basic set of knowledge, skills, and terminology needed to understand the advent, growth and development of online communities. Students learn to engage with, critique, and discuss online communities through timely readings, reputable guest lecturers, and lively discussions. Assigned readings include both influential industry blogs and academic publications. Frequent guest lecturers offer information about new developments in the industry and provide students with insights into the leadership and management of online communities. Weekly discussions draw from the week’s industry news, other readings, and topics and issues raised by our guests. The class explores business aspects of online communities, motivations for their creation, strategies for cultivating them, as well as trends in this industry. This wealth of knowledge serves as preparation for future classes and projects at APOC.

So far, we’ve discussed the impact of online communities on society, open source & peer production, and designing around the user experience.  The following topics are still to come:

• Micro/niche communities
• Large scale communities
• Digital Filmmaking, User-Generated Content
• Transmedia & multi-platform strategies
• Viral marketing, SEO/SEM
• PR, Attraction/Conversion/Retention, Customer service as marketing
• Monetization Strategies, Bootstrapping, Raising Capital
• Virtual Worlds & Games
• Industry Case Study: How the Social Web is Changing the Content-Driven Businesses
• Mobile/wireless, GPS, Artificial Intelligence 

So…. Any suggestions on readings for the upcoming topics?  Speakers?  Lab exercises?

So… I’ve been a very bad blogger lately.  Not deviant or anything. Just not enough posts.

Big news: I moved to Houston, TX and started a new job.  More on that another time.

One of the coolest things about Texas is the South By Southwest music festival held every Spring in Austin.  I submitted a couple panels.  Part of the selection is based on votes from the community.

You should create an account, click on the two big links below, and vote for mine

Fractured Online Identities: Implications for Marketing, Services, & More

Social Media Lessons From Election ‘08

Today, a blogger from Wired Magazine gave a plug on behalf of my latter proposal.  Fun.

So please go to the links, create an account, give me your vote(s) and feel free to leave a comment there, if you’d like.  I’d appreciate it.

So I recently learned about a pretty interesting site called FaceStats. This site allows you to upload a pic of yourself or someone else and within a couple moments (more like hours) a bunch of strangers will evaluate you purely based on your photo.

This site is perfect for the vain, insecure, proud, and/or judgemental ones among us.

So I tried it. Of course not because I’m any of THOSE things. Because I’m into technology. Right.

Check out my FaceStats at http://facestat.com/faces/57546. I’m not happy about all the responses, but it is funny to check out.

Apparently the wisdom of this crowd is that I’m a not-bad-looking scruffy terrorist jackblack Hispanic/Latino man with a bright level of intelligence, age 28.

What do you think of this site? Try it out and leave me a comment with your FaceStats.

Q. How does a candidate for president risk losing the campaign even after assuredly winning the most states, getting the most votes and earning support of the most ’superdelegates’?

A. By bowling a friggin’ 37.

I think bowling is exactly the kind of activity I want to see by the future leader of the free world. Because bowling is awesome.  But a score of 37 is exactly the kind of scandal the Hillary camp has been counting on! If I’m on Hillary’s team, I’m doing private bowling lessons right now and rollin’ a 126 in the morning as evidence of being more tightly connected to working class bowlers voters.

But I’m not on Hillary’s team. I’m rollin’ with Barack.

(Thanks, Fouj, for the link!)

Wanna know what activism will look like in 10 years? Participatory culture is emerging. This is an amazing piece of video.

Link: sevenload.com