Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President.
Editor’s note: This is first guest post from Max Gladwell.
Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They’ll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. They’ll take for granted that they are connected and interconnected with hundreds of millions of people at any given moment. And they’ll take for granted that a black man is or was President of the United States.
What’s most profound is that these represent parts of a greater whole. They represent a shift in power from centralized institutions and organizations to the People they represent. It is the evolution of democracy by way of technology, and we are all better for it.
For most of us, social media has changed our lives in some meaningful way. Collectively it is changing the world for good. Given the pace of innovation and adoption, change has become a constant. Every so often we find the need to stop and reflect on its most recent and noteworthy developments, hence the following list.
This post is, in Rob’s words, part of a grand social media experiment to publish the first collective, simultaneous guest blog post from Max Gladwell. Our goal is for it be published simultaneously on 100 blogs, thus inspiring 100 simultaneous conversations from various points of view. We have more than 70 confirmed with some of the biggest and coolest in the blogosphere.
Mokugift is sponsoring 3rd Whale’s “Greenest Person On The Planet” contest, a search for the greenest person on the planet (Latin America, North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceana)
This new iPhone App actually makes a ton of sense. Instead of having to print out coupons or clip them from mailers, you can just get the store clear to scan your iPhone. Check out how it works:
“We know that paper coupons will not be completely replaced, but providing consumers and retailers with an outlet for mobile coupons is a positive start towards reducing the waste created by the mountains of mail we all receive,” said Luke
The Pininfarina Bluecar is an all-electric vehicle capable of travelling 155 miles on a single charge and a top speed of 80 mph. But get this - drivers will be able to use their iPhone to remotely check up on battery charge levels and ‘pre-heat the car’s electric drive system,’ very swish (more pics after the jump).
The sampling was done by Regenersis. They processed over 2 million handsets in 2008; that’s one handset every 15 seconds. During a random sampling in December they discovered how many mobiles had not been wiped clean: a lot!
Shazam figures out what song you’re listening to. A pocket flashlight (not to mention a light saber) is only two taps away. And Yelp can get the phone number, directions and even a review of the place you’re trying to find and meet your friends at in a quarter of the time directory assistance, Safari, Google or any mapping software can do it.
GPS enabled phones such as the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry have made getting around so much easier, and in the case of geocaching, more fun. But what if you’re a green minded individual, in a city you’ve never been to before, or even in your own town, and want to know what businesses have got what you want?
Have you ever been away from your computer and felt out of touch with the latest in news from the Environmental Protection Administration? Well, fret no more.
You’ve done it. I’ve done it. We’ve all squawked at the lack of green-ness current gadgets have to offer. In fact, Greenpeace has built an entire campaign around it.
Keeping track of your carbon footprint can be hard; you may walk or take the bus everywhere, but how much CO2 is that cross-country plane trip letting loose? UbiGreen, a new cell phone application developed by Intel and the University of Washington, senses whether you’re in a plane, train, or car to let you know exactly what your carbon footprint is.
Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They’ll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. They’ll take for granted that they are connected and interconnected with hundreds of millions of people at any given moment. And they’ll take for granted that a black man is or was President of the United States.
