#Response 11#: Global conversation

I was first introduced to Global Voices Online today. And I’m amazed by this great citizen advocacy initiative.  In my opinion, the project combines two key aspects: local bloggers covering news that are ignored by the international media and the news translation into different languages.

Considering those aspects, The Global Voices Online is helping people to view the world through different lenses. By organizing more than 200 bloggers from all over the world, the website is fostering a global conversation. More importantly the news is written by  local population and translated to several languages. Now, everyone can have access to local news about topics that are not covered by the mainstream media.

Up to now, if I wanted to have access to information about a country like Guatemala, I would have to speak Spanish or to rely on the CNN, BBC or Reuters’ sections about Latin America. I wouldn’t have learnt, for example, about the story of a Massacre survivor that has become a human rights activist.

As a Brazilian, I was curious to check the Brazil Global voices page. However, I was surprised by the low activity on the page. In 2009, there were only 10 posts per month, on average, and a few links. Considering the size of the country and all the events that occurred this year, I was expecting to see more posts. Although the amount of posting could be higher, I would like to highlight the quality of the information. There were great posts portraying the Brazilian reality, such as this one and this one.

It’s also important to highlight some other initiatives from Global Voices. They have a project to defend the Freedom of speech. Besides raising awareness about worldwide censorship issues, the project offers information about how to protect your privacy while blogging and a guide for digital advocacy.

Another essential project is Rising Voices, which provides resources to empower underrepresented communities to join the conversation. Considering the low internet access in many countries, this project is crucial to foster a real global perspective.

I believe that initiatives like Global Voices online are key to promote a more democratic and an unbiased vision of world. Global Voices, I’m pleased to meet you!

#Additional post 5#: Game OverDOSE

Last week , I was talking to a friend and she was really upset with her husband, because he spends more time playing World of Warcraft than with her. And I remembered the class we had about the incredible growth of gaming industry and started thinking how this success is affecting people’s “real life”. Searching about game addiction, I found this interesting post about extreme cases, like the  gamer who was addicted to EverQuest and quit his job, stopped taking his epilepsy medication and committed suicide.

As the blog carefully explains, the game addition is not the only reason for extreme behaviors, such as killing your own mother for forbidding you to play Halo3; or murdering another player in real life, because he had stolen your game sword. Usually the people who took those extreme actions probably had other kinds of disorders, but it’s hard to consider that game addiction hadn’t contributed at all.

I agree that the game addiction can be dangerous and should be considered a serious disease that needs treatment.

This year, the first clinic for game addiction was founded in Great Britain. Psychologists and psychiatrics are discussing if the game compulsion should be considered a mental disorder and if it could be compared to other kinds of addictions.

Most games have characteristics that contribute for the addiction, such as the competitive aspect (to beat the game or a higher score), the possibility to be embark on a “new reality” where people can feel more powerful and being part of a community.

And how can you diagnose that a family member is getting addicted to games? Some of the signs are related to the how the game is interfering in the person’s routine. For instance, one symptom is when the person stops dedicating time to activities, such as studying, going out with friends, and being with the family, to spend more time playing.  The loss of interest for the real life and sleep disturbance are also indicatives of addiction.

Here is an interesting video about some of symptoms:

However, what really surprised me about all I’ve read about game addiction is the gaming industry lack of response.  Until when the gaming industry will continue to ignore the potential “side effects” of its products?

#Response 10#: Wikipedia editing journey

My first Wikipedia editing experience happened this week. I confess that it was harder than I thought. I started navigating through the tutorial pages, which by the way aren’t very clear or easy to follow. All the coding language in the Wikipedia links and Citing sources can be quite challenging for someone with no previous experience of HTML code. I was also surprised by the complexity of the Citation Templates page. I have to say that the tutorial pages weren’t the most encouraging place to begin with.

After practicing on the sandbox, I felt a little bit more confident to move to the next step and edit a real page.  It was hard to decide which topic I was going to write about. Do I know really that much about something to make a real contribution? I felt the weight of the responsibility of writing something that others can rely on.

After visiting more than 30 Wikipedia articles, I decided to write about the Brazilian soccer team that I support. The section about the fans had only one phrase and needed more information.  In order to respect the Notability rules, I did a research on the topic and looked for reliable sources.  I also tried to respect the NPOV, or neutral point of view in my entry. However, I confess that I had a hard time keeping the neutrality while writing about something I’m passionate about.

It wasn’t easy to choose the content either. What’s relevant to be in an encyclopedia? Well, after two days struggling with the content, I finally published it. And the feeling of making a contribution was quite good.  Now, I’m anxious to see if the content will be accepted by the other editors. I read the previous discussions in the talk page and the debates are quite harsh.

Although my overall Wikipedia editing experience was positive, I don’t believe I will contribute in a while. The whole experience was time and energy consuming, and stressful at certain points. The unfriendly interface and all the rules make Wikipedia a not very welcoming place to new contributors.  I’ll probably join the large number of editors who are dropping the project.  Actually, I’ve just learned that Wikipedia doesn’t consider me as an editor anyway.

#Additional post 4#: Is it the beginning of the end for Wikipedia?

Will Wikipedia die? On last Tuesday, November 24^th, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the massive departure of Wikipedia editors. The article reported a study conducted by Dr. Felipe Ortega which states that Wikipedia had a net loss of 49,000 editors in the first quarter of 2009 comparing to 4,900 in the same period a year ago.

Impressive, isn’t it?

This information provoked a great impact in the blogosphere and many posts were written about it.

Some blogs focused on the possible reasons for the decline, others highlighted its consequences.

In the middle of this discussion, the Wikimedia foundation responded to the Ortega’s study, stating that the number of editors is actually stable. The disparity in numbers is claimed to be due to a different interpretation of who is considered an editor.

However, among all the posts written about the topic, one particularly caught my attention. It was written by Jack Schofield in Guardian Technology Blog. Besides outlining some possible reasons and consequences of these figures, Schofield brings to the discussion an important element: the purpose of Wikipedia.

“The aim of Wikipedia is to produce a viable free encyclopedia, not just in English but in all the world’s major languages. Wikipedia doesn’t have to care how the work gets done, as long as it gets done for nothing.”

That statement, in my opinion, raises a crucial discussion: what should come first in the Wikipedia project – to build a free encyclopedia or to be a democratic crowdsourcing project? Is crowdsourcing only the means to an end or means in itself?

If the drop of editors will lead to the increase of vandalism and in the decrease of the quality, should Wikipedia continue to be open? Will the cornerstone of its foundation, the democratic crowdsourcing, divert to a point that it will threaten the content that has been produced?

#Additional post 3#: Where to go on your next vacation? Turkey part III

In previous posts I shared some tips about travelling to Turkey. This is the third and last of this series and I will be talking about Pamukkale and Cappadocia.

Let’s start with Pamukkale.  Pamukkale or the “cotton castle” in Turkish, is located in the Denizli Province. This is an incredible place that combines a unique natural beauty with an archeological site. I think the picture speaks for itself:

Pamukkale is also considered as a World Heritage Site by Unesco. You can learn more about it in this video.

A day trip is enough to visit Pamukkale. Tip: Don’t miss the sunset view from the top of the mountain.

From Pamukkale we got a bus to Cappadocia. After a 12 hours journey, we arrived at my favorite place in Turkey.

Cappadocia is a region located in central Turkey, famous for its unique geology. Have a look!

The rocks were formed by deposits of ancient volcanoes and the wind gave them this distinctive shape. To visit this amazing region you should book at least two days. I also would recommend you staying in Goreme.

In Goreme you can stay in a cave hotel and visit the Goreme Open Air Museum which has more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels, some with beautiful byzantine frescoes.

Besides the Open Air Museum, you should visit the Ihlara Valley, the Pigeon Valley and the underground city. You can easily find day trip excursions from Goreme to these sites.

However, for me the highlight in Cappadocia is the balloon flight. This was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had.  There are several good balloon companies that offer this service from April until October. I strongly recommend you booking in advance. The crew picks you up before dawn and drives you to the takeoff site. During the one hour tour you will have an unforgettable view of the sun rising in the Cappadocia region.

I leave you with this video. So you can have a taste of the experience.

I hope you have enjoyed the trip! Görüşürüz!

#Response 8#: A million heads

I was first introduced to the crowdsourcing concept some years ago, while I was working on a consumer trend report for a retail company. At that time I was interested in understanding how companies were opening their R&D departments and including consumer ideas in the product development process.

Since then, there was a boom in the crowdsourcing initiatives probably due to the expansion of the web 2.0, and more recently by the economic crisis.

In my opinion the increase of the crowdsourcing is a fantastic trend. The collaboration of millions of people to exchange information, develop products and foster social movements can be very beneficial. After all a million heads is better than one.

Connecting different views and opinions to create knowledge is one of the major benefits of crowdsourcing.  Besides the famous Wikipedia case, there are several websites that gather information from different people and provide useful insights. There are two that I regularly access and recommend: Trendwatching and Trip Advisor.

Trendwatching publishes free and paid reports about consumer behavior trends. In order to do it, the company relies on more than 8.000 collaborators or spotters from all over the world. When the spotters submit trend reports, they receive points that can be exchanged for prizes such as iPods. The international network allows the website to show real life examples of trends occurring around the world.

The website Tripadvisor gathers more than 30 million travelers reviews about tourist destinations, hotels, transportation and restaurants from all over the world. There you can get very useful tips from real travelers to help you to plan your trip.

However, tapping into the collective intelligence has its controversial side. Some critics believe that crowdsourcing business websites are an exploitive way of paying minimum wages for services. Especially in the design field, the success of websites such as Crowdspring and 99design has increased the polemic about low compensations and how those contest websites devalue the graphic design activity.

I understand these concerns, but my question is: Isn’t the crowdsourcing market place connecting a demand that wasn’t fulfilled by the professional market? I believe that the majority of clients asking for services in 99 Design, wouldn’t have the budget to hire a design agency in the first place. In that sense aren’t these sites democratizing those services? Moreover, aren’t those sites benefiting self-employed professionals by connecting them to a broader demand?

# Additional post 2#: Where to go on your next vacations? Turkey!- Part II

In my last week post: Where to go on your next vacation, I believe I have convinced you about going to Turkey. Now I’m going to help you plan your trip.

The first decision that you have to make is how many days you will spend in Turkey. I would say you need at least ten. Turkey is a large country; therefore you will need some time to travel from one place to the other.

We spend ten days there and we were able only to do the “basic tour”, including Istanbul, Ephesus, Pamukkale and Cappadocia.

Let’s start with Istanbul, which by the way is not the capital of the country. Istanbul is an amazing city, with a population of more than 12 million people, it is also known as Constantinople. There you’re going to have a taste of the European and Asian mixture.  Book at least 3 day in Istanbul to visit the Topkapi palace, Ayasofya – Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.

These are most do attractions. One other thing that’s definitely worth doing is the Bosphorus Strait Cruise. Here is good tip: get the boat a little bit before the sunset, so you can have the unforgettable view of the city during the daylight and after it’s dark.

In Istanbul I recommend staying at the Sultanahamet district, that’s where most of the attractions are. If you have some extra time you might want to visit the Cistern, the Islamic museum and the “new town” side of the city.

From Istanbul we went to Izmir by plane, and from there to Selcuk by bus. Selcuk is the closest cities to the archaeological site of Ephesus. This site is one of the best preserved classical Greek cities. Have a look!

You’ll need one full day to visit the site and I recommend you getting audio guides. You might stay another day to visit the Ephesus Museum, the Basilica of St. John and Virgin Mary’s house.

My golden tip about Selcuk is here to stay. If you want to feel like you’re part of a local family, stay in the Homeros pension. I believe others had the same great experience, click here for some reviews.

I hope you have enjoyed your trip so far. I’ll leave what I consider to be the best of Turkey for next week’s post. Stay tuned for tips about Pamukkale and Cappadocia!

#Reponse 9#: In Wikipedia we trust. Should we?

With the proliferation of the Internet more voices are becoming part of the conversation.  The web 2.0 enables users to not only receive information, but also to produce content. With the increase of people participating on content production, concepts like crowd sourcing are emerging. Now it is possible to gather people from all over the world to join forces and perform tasks, such as improving products or building the world’s largest encyclopedia.

Having access to the knowledge of some many people is definitely something positive. Before, knowledge and information were provided by a limited number of sources, such as encyclopedias, newspapers, academic books published by experts. Now, we have easy access to a wider variety of experiences provided by people coming from all walks of life.

However, this immense source of information has its limits. Not all the information available on the internet is true. Therefore, people should also develop a sense of “wariness” and critical thinking..

A good example of what we should be wary is Wikipedia, which is an ambitious project of organizing the knowledge of the world in one place.  With more than 13 million articles in over 200 languages, Wikipedia’s success relies on being a platform which people can easily access, edit and contribute. However, this collective encyclopedia also has its drawbacks. The accuracy of the information and the amateur source are constantly a target of critics. Some academic institutions are no longer accepting Wikipedia references in students’ papers.

We can also find the Wikipedia supporters, such as Chris Anderson in The Long Tail who believe that the accuracy problems fall under the probabilistic theory and are the exception and not the rule. And that Wikipedia is even more accurate than Britannica Encyclopedia.

I see a great value in the collective wisdom and agree that Wikipedia does an amazing job putting it together. I also understand its accuracy limitations. However, here is my main concern: isn’t the “beauty” of Wikipedia about building knowledge coming from different sources and experiences?  If so, does the fact that the 83% of contributors are men, mostly white, put Wikipedia’s “representativeness” in check? Who is expressing the knowledge and experiences of the ones who have no access to internet: 93% of the population in African, 80% in Asia, 75% in the Middle East, and 70% in Latin and Caribbean American? Is Wikipedia articles biased by a limited perspective?

# Reponse seven#: Power to the people

The most valuable issue that I’ve learnt so far this semester is how social media is reshaping the way we communicate, and mainly how it shifts the power towards the people, resulting in a more democratic society.

In the Cluetrain Manifesto we’ve learnt a key lesson: markets are conversation. With the internet, the silence imposed by the mass production and mass marketing  advents, is coming to an end.

“On the Internet, markets are getting more connected and more powerfully vocal every day. (…) Connected, they reclaim their voice in the market, but this time with more reach and wider influence than ever.”(Chapter four) 

However, corporations are still dealing with the markets as something distance, as targets to be reached, and the internet is seen as just another channel to broadcast the message. They are afraid to join this conversation and lose control.

Nevertheless, we are entering a new era in which the one way communication model is becoming obsolete: the faith on advertising is declining; meanwhile the faith on individuals is increasing. According to Chris Anderson in “The Long tail”:

“we are leaving the information age and entering to the recommendation age.” (p.98)

Peer by peer review are getting and incredible importance. A study shows that 62 percent of consumers read consumer-written reviews online, and 82 percent of them said their purchasing decisions are influenced by customer reviews. 

This change reaches far beyond than just representing that we are now more empowered consumers. It indicates that we are more connected, and not only receiving, but also producing information. It ultimately represents a shift in the power, from big institutions to the people.  In “We the media” we’ve learnt more about how this power shift is impacting the media industry and the way we produce and consume information.

Clay Shirky, in “Here comes Everybody” goes further and tell us that:

“When we change the way we communicate, we change society” (p.17). 

Have a look on his thoughts on how collaboration technologies are changing the society, in this brilliant presentation.

The understanding of how this change in the media and technological landscapes has impacted the way people communicate and behave is crucial for communication professional. Whoever is trying to get a message out, can no longer work with the traditional media frameworks. Transparency and real two-way conversation are mandatory for those who want to survive this new world. Welcome!

# Additional post#: Where to go on your next vacations?

It was in May of the last year, when my husband and I, and two friends started making plans for our vacations.  There are some many places to visit in the world, that this discussion lasted until August when we finally decided to spend our vacations in Turkey. It was a great choice! We had such an amazing time there that some friends and relatives became interested in going and started asking for some information and tips. And every time I had to write the same e-mail and send the same links. So, in order to make it easier and to share my experience in Turkey with a wider “audience”, I’ve decided to write this post.

I’ll start with why you should go to Turkey. First of all, the country has a unique location: it is where West meets East or where Europe meets Asia.

Because of this geographical location, Turkey has been an important place for ancient civilizations, such as Hellens, Romans, Seljuks and the Ottomans . This cultural heritage makes Turkey an incredible place to visit, filled by several archeological sites, amazing food, great music and unique architecture.

If you are interested in learning more about the Turkish history and culture you can find some exciting information here, here and here.

Have I already convinced you to go to Turkey? Not yet? Watch this video

Now I believe you have good reasons to go, so I’ll share my experience with you.

My best buddy, while I was planning the trip, was the wesite Tripadvisor. There you can find useful information about the country and get advice from real travelers. I used the search engine to look for travelers tip about places to visit, transportation and etc. If your question has not been answered, you can always ask in the forum discussion.

Here, here and here are other good websites that helped me planning the trip.

Stay tuned for the next weeks’ post with tips about the places we visited, pictures, and basic things you need to know before going!