Erkan's field diary

Political myspace? EU social networking site in the works

By Sarah Schewe

As new media makes the world an increasingly transparent place, plans are currently being developed to launch a social networking site connecting MEPs and MPs across Europe.

Your Take Roundup::People Get Picky on Adding Friends on Social Media Sites

 There comes a time in every person’s online life when they have to make a decision: to add or not to add a “friend.” I put friend in quotations because that’s usually the problem. Is the person a friend, a real friend, or someone who wants to be a friend? Should I add them as a friend because it’s polite, or ignore them because I want to protect my personal information?

The symbolism of blogs

I went for the walk for media freedom yesterday, seeing as All-Blogs was involved and my wife wanted to go also. You can get the details of the event from the links below, so I’d just like to mention the moments when blogs came up, and say something about the role of blogs as an indexical symbol.

Campaign: Iranians oppose renaming Persian Gulf

By Hamid

Description: In recent years, Iranians have launched a relatively successful digital campaign against the renaming of the Persian Gulf as the Arabic Gulf. Several magazines and sites have covered the news of this digital protest, including the BBC. The Persian Gulf is one of the most important national symbols for Iranians and any attempt to rename it creates strong reactions in Iran, both online and off. Here are some of the tactics used in the digital campaign:

Pros & Cons: Egypt activists rely on Facebook - what if it’s blocked?

By Mary

Although this site is about how technology empowers activists on a global scale, we must not be blind optimists or think of digital activism as a panacea. For this reason we include thoughtful criticism of digital activism. If we want to make truly meaningful change we must address the Pros & Cons of digital activism.

Top Ten Websites for Your Mobile

By Loki

Not sure your to point your mobile browser? We can help!

Fads and Facebook

In Britain

Knives and drink are the rage in London

VISITORS to London could be forgiven for thinking the place is going to hell in a handbasket. "Schoolgirl stabbed to death on her way home," screams the page one headline in today's Daily Mail, noting the girl who died in her school uniform was the 31st teen-age knife victim in Britain this year.

Tactic: Israelis, Palestinians unite through technology

By Talia

Description: Since the deterioration of the Oslo Peace Accords in 2000, business relations between Israelis and Palestinians have been incredibly difficult to sustain, especially in the technology sector. Palestinians need permits to enter Israel, while Israelis are not allow to enter any Palestinian areas. However, a technological advancement created through a business partnership is uniting these two groups in an innovative way.

Tools Being Used:Google Docs, Flickr, Zoho

YouTube Adds Annotations; Finally Some Forward Movement

By Allen Stern 

One of the things you learn in business is that if you are number one, you can basically do nothing and watch all the others work hard to take you down. In the online video space, YouTube has this honor. They basically haven't shown any innovation over the past year except for a basic player upgrade which seemed to have more to do with monetization ability than features.