Best Week Ever...Not...Week 2!

I almost forgot that Fridays were going to be a wrap up of...borrowing someone else's catch phrase... The Week That Was. I still don't have a name for this weekly segment because I'm a grantwriter by trade, not a copywriter. Nothing gives me chills more than writing for brevity and impact. I like my writing to obfuscate not clear stuff up.

So here are my impressions of week:

Seeing Green, Hearing Green, and now Feeling Green. Of course, I am referring to the Iran elections although I couldn't help but think of my Irish heritage this week. I had a nerdgasm over the use of social media with promoting democracy. That blog post I put up this past Tuesday got a fair amount traffic. On Wednesday, I went to a demo in Rittenhouse Square that was organized by an Iran students association. I passed along the messages of people based in Iran and now that a few days have gone by I would say I am no longer in the social media underground. Now that election candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi is on Twitter and has a Facebook page, I am seeing tons of tweets (Twitter posts) referring us his official Facebook for information. The honeymoon is definitely over in terms of using Twitter for the latest info...I am back to relying on my regularly visited news sources for useful info (and verified) info.

SEPTA as Gender Police Wednesday was a big day for me with being out and about and active. I started following a story that I think would appeal to anyone who uses SEPTA. And that is the plight of transgendered people who are getting harrassed by bus drivers and train conductors questioning the M or F on their passes. The idea of being denied transportation because of your gender is discriminatory and wrong. The group SEPTA RAGE is working on this issue & join their Facebook page to stay informed. They have 564 as of this moment, which is a pretty huge group. Not only do they have a Facebook page, they do stuff. On Wednesday, they had a happy hour, meet and greet event at Stir. It was very well attended with people talking about the initiatives to make Pennsylvania a state that truly doesn't discriminate on the basis of gender. The Philadelphia Weekly had a nice piece about this issue titled Transpassing Prohibited. Carline Arcila, who was featured by the PW was at the Stir event and told her story to all of us gathered.

If Only I Could Clone Myself The summer of insane fun continues with another weekend of activities. Too bad, I'm not like the Citypaper or Philly Weekly and give you a heads up of happenings in advance. Instead I find out about things at the last minute. Usually on Monday I have nothing to do on the weekend and by Friday, I am bursting with way too much to do. Here's my schedule. Probably won't make everything but I'll try:

Friday June 19, 2009:
-Party in West Philly to say bye to Dave who will be in Montreal painting murals for summer.
-Free concert at Electric Factory with Major Lazer featuring Diplo and Drop the Lime.

Saturday June 20, 2009:
-2nd Street Music & Popped Festival sponsored by Philebrity from 2 pm - 9 pm from 2nd & Poplar and north toward Girard.
-Summer Solstice event at Kimmel Center- This party goes from 3pm - 6 am. A true all nighter. I'm a little nervous about their talk about a drum circle at 5 am, but I'm thinking of checking it out.
-Medusa Lounge has some good music on Saturday. Might swing by for a while.

Sunday June 21, 2009: Don't tell me about stuff going on for Sunday because I'm not listening- La, la, la, la. I need a day of rest.

It's Called Social Media for a Reason

As events around the election and resulting protests in Iran unfold, it seems like every blogger, tweeter, and other social mediaer is in on the action. And I don't know how many people in Philly's streets are wearing the green of protest, but I see Twitter and Facebook photos in lovely mossy hues.

Will Bunch, Daily News columnist, wrote a piece about the Iran election story from the lens of a growing gulf between social media and more traditional news outlets: Media revolution: What's Gained, What's Lost.

But I think Bunch missed the point. Social media isn't solely about news transmission, it is about mass movements and activism. Social media is responding to and creating news.

I made a comment on Bunch's Attytood online blog post:

In the 1950's the newly birthed television gave the civil rights movement a mass audience. People were horrified by the sight of dogs and firehoses unleashed on peaceful demonstrators looking for the end of segregation. But people did not simply watch tv, they opened their wallets and gave money to activist groups such as Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) or they simply went down South to participate in direct action. Social media promises to usher in a new wave of activism because in short bursts of information, messages of "Do this" or "Go there" are flooded our consciousness. We aren't absorbing news passively in social media, we are being encouraged to construct it. It is better to go do something and tweet about it in the moment than to read about it in the paper in the morning. With social media, I use my voice, but I also use my feet. I demonstrate, I boycott, and I put up a big ole fuss with the establishment. Talk without action leads nowhere.

In summary, I am very much excited by the potential social media has in shaping our world in more democratic and more humane ways. I want to be part of that.