Bloggers without Borders
Reading Joi Ito I just discovered a new blogging site: Bloggers without Border. It seemed a serious site, but somehow I had a hard time in understanding what where they after.
In other words:
- What does a blogger without border do?
- How will the world be a different place if there are bloggers without border?
- Are they here to be part of the problem or part of the solution?
- And who are them (understand me, not the names…)?
- Can anybody be a blogger without border? Is it like a badge (I too support BwB… in my heart)?
- Is it a network?
- Is it a way to send funds?
Following this line of thought I noticed that on the right there was the omnipresent PayPal button. Yet no info was given on what was the money going to.
- Will the money reach people in help?
- All the money?
- Will it be used on the site?
- All the money?
I started investigating the mission. And was left more hungry than before. There was a bit of history, but still no meat.
This is, where BwoB is today. We continue to add features, and will introduce a few great ones in short order, but for the time being, it’s a weblog, a forum, and a means to communicate and coordinate.
In other words, for now is just another place to chat, which had the luck to be Ito-dotted.
And then the answer to the (obviously) only frequently asked question:
Q: Are donations to BwoB tax deductible?
Why I just can’t give a damn?
I am fully supporting true grassroot activism and participation, but I just can’t found either here. It reminds me of my experience with Our Answer. The site that should have been a center for creating through a wiki the answer to press releases and declaration of influential people, and was instead a big flop. No one actually used it. Until I took it down.
And slowly the sensation creeps in, that in the power law world of bloggers, the fact that something is succesful might still be a bit too much tied on who launches it, then on the intrinsec value.
So Bloggers without Border, are you part of the problem or part of the solution? How so?
Update: This morning I checked Bloggers without Borders. The pages were sensibly changed: Where the charity money was going was clarified. Also the mission was clarifed:
Our Mission Statement in a small block:
Bloggers without Borders was founded to raise
awareness for charities and charitable events
around the world. We use the tools and
exposure of modern citizen journalism as a
means to lend a hand in the solicitation of
donations and outbound information management.
.
Which is good. Still not revolutionary, but good.
What instead sounds truly great was the topic: Building a disaster alert system on existing informal networks. Yes!
The tsunami of December 2004 is a perfect example of a situation in which technologically-empowered social networks could have saved lives…
Even without building giant sirens in every town on the Indian Ocean we could have a tsunami warning system. An increasing number of people have mobile phones and/or internet access. Let’s build a trusted network of communication paths. Let’s be a place for scientists to provide information and warnings. Let those pass through to the appropriate regions through websites, email, news feeds, SMS, and good old fashioned “pick up the phone and call somebody�. Let the people on the ground spread the word locally and report conditions back to the world.
Which recall something I wrote when I heard of the disaster:
So maybe it is time to reclaim another little piece of out power.
As we all get more connected, the fastest way to tell to people, is not through the authorities, but just directly. If you have a warning, tell it.
Can you recognise when an idea is ready to be applied? Generally that is when it appears from different sources at the same time.
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