Tag: Social Networking

The Big Picture’s “big picture”


This is good. It’s the site created by 3form for Audiences Central as part of a partnership between the BBC in the West Midlands and the Arts Council.

It’s called the Big Picture 2008 and the technical jiggery pokery linking google maps, flickr and the site is dead clever.

So what’s it for? Well on the face it this is an attempt to create the world’s biggest photo montage – to pull together images from across the wider West Midlands to create one huge mash-up of what and where we are as a region. 100,000 pictures and 100,000 record breakers.
“We are painting a picture of a region full of life, humour, vitality and beauty – a really fitting picture of the West Midlands and the people in it.”

Why would we want to do that? That’s the important question.

The motivation behind this is not simply art work. My understanding is that the “big picture” part of The Big Picture is public involvement in art. Thanks to mobile phones and low cost digital cameras, photography is one of the most accessible forms of permanent art (I’d say singing is more widely accessible and colouring-in is under estimated as an art form).

So the aim is to seduce more of us into creating art and, through prizes and events, experiencing art. That’s partly why the site is also curious about who we are. The people behind it need to find out whether they’ve made an impact.

But the questionnaire that appears as you are using the site has mithered one enthusiast. Simon Hammond posted that “as I work through age, ethnicity and disability status I’m feeling myself shrinking to a data point for someone else’s ends.”

At a time when publicly held data is being liberally scattered around the planet on lost laptops and misplaced disks people are growing impatient with data gathering.
Perhaps it would be wise to use some of the elegant about space to not only say how you can use the site, but to share some of the motivation behind the site. When I know why you want my data, I can make a better decision about what I want to share.

Statement of interests: When reading this you might like to know that at the moment I’m doing some work for Audiences Central and one of the key people behind the project, Jon Bounds, also works closely with me on this site, Upyerbrum and other projects. I’ve also recently worked for the Arts Council in the West Midlands, oh and I used to work for the BBC.

£50 million for the Black Country or let the cyclists freewheel to a win?

We’re in the final days before voting closes for the People’s £50 Million. I’m backing the Black Country Urban Park. First because they’re our neighbours and also because it is a remarkable part of the country – with huge potential for being home to a better way of living.

But, if the blogosphere is anything to go by, perhaps the national Sustrans cycling and walking network is in the lead. (Update – thanks to Nunovo for some work suggesting this may be the case – see comments on this post.) Of course it matters less to more places, whereas the Black Country bid matters much more to fewer places.

With this in mind Jon Bounds and I are using upyerbrum to help promote the cause and encourage you lot to vote for the Black Country Urban Park over three other competitors (ops did I forget to link to them!) for this £50 million slab of the Big Lottery Fund.

We’ve already created a Facebook application (add it please and message your mates – they can use it to link to the vote). Now we bring you this stylish yet simple animated badge (look right) which you can add to your blog or website. Find the code here.

I imagined the campaign would all hinge of the phone vote at the end of this week. But the programmes on ITV 1 have been shown late – after the local news. As a result of the low audience and low energy of the TV side of the competition I think the winners will be those who get their networks voting. So who’s out there Standing UP for the Black Country?

First thank you Duncan Borrowman for changing your vote – and all on the basis of a reasoned argument from Colin Ross in Wolverhampton. Thank you also to Granny’s Buttons who cogently argues that any and all canal towpath users should Stand Up for the Black Country.

Next on the list is the irrepressible Donato at Bostin, who’s been using his Facebook group and his Myspace friends to yell his support. Spaghetti Gazetti is also firmly onside, along with the Halesowen Innuendo Society (and yes do look away if you’re squeamish). Bridgette McKenzie isn’t sure which way to go – (vote Black Country Bridget) while Toyah is shouting for us online. Passionate Media are (is?) not only voting the right way they’re also sporting our blog badge (thanks).

Dave Radcliffe (a Lib Dem) takes a pop at the Minister (Labour) for the West Midlands for supporting the Black Country when the Sustrans project will bring minor benefit to Brum. Nonsense Dave, £50 million iin the Black Country will have far more benefit to Brum. Telford seems to share that vision whilst Birmingham is fudging it’s support in a very positive way.

Pete at Created in Birmingham has already voted for Sustrans (update/correction is most supportive of this project – see clarification below) – but (like Birmingham Council) also wanted to point to the Black Country campaign. Local politicians should be linking like mad – just as Steven Frear and Bob Piper are (very polite Bob) and of course the bid has p-p-p-picked up support from Political Penguin with a fab sideshow of images.

So please use the badge, vote, email your friends, Facebook your chums Myspace your mums. Please just do it.

Others I’ve missed supporting the Black Country Urban Park

West Brom Blogger.

Neil Dixon.

Russ L at Oh.

BCT.

BiNS goes all Black Country it’s Not S**t, despite this earlier post railing at regen lotteries.

Governor 2.0, Tanya Byron and the Digital Media Literacy Summit

Thursday morning and the phone goes. My kids’ secondary school. “Gawd”, I think, “I need to catch a train to London”. Don’t panic. No accident, no expulsions. It turns out I’ve been elected one of four parent governors.

I can be slow at times – because I spent the rest of the day at the Digital Media Literacy Summit before it dawned on me that perhaps one of the most useful things I could do as a school governor is encourage the school to exploit the social web. With this in mind I ask around at the conference for some advice:

Tanya Byron gave me a couple of tips which you can hear in the podcast below. She’s currently running a government review (consultation ends on the 30th November) on the balance between safety and opportunity for young people both online and in the gaming world. Adam Fahey, himself a school governor, was hugely encouraging including advice on tactics – such as getting on the best committees and finding advocates within schools.

The Age of Tactics.

Tactics stuck out for me at the summit. Chanel 4 Commissioning Editor for education and new media, Matt Locke told us that social web evangelists need to think of this as as much a time for tactics as strategy. This absolutely chimes with my experience where I know organisations can benefit from new ideas and connections generated on the social web – the real issues is how to get them deep enough into the experience to understand the potential.

He also helped us picture the geography of social networking – the combination of Secret Spaces, Group Spaces, Publishing Spaces, Performing Spaces, Participation Spaces and Watching Spaces.

Jon Gisby – the Former MD of Yahoo in the UK – gave one obvious tactical solution – access to the right people. He correctly argues that equipment is not so important, the key for improving digital media literacy is to ensure that there are enough people who understand in the right places. So can we seed places with evangelists, unleash the passions of those already there.

Ewan McIntosh was downright inspiring. He warned of the problem of education being run by 21st century illiterates and said so much more which requires some digestion.

Tim Davies brought us back to a fundamental issue of strategy.

It continues to surprise me how often different standards are uncritically applied to young people and to adults. The justification for the difference is assumed, but never articulated.

As a governor my aim must be to help educate young people to understand and negotiate risk and opportunity. My experience teaching social media (with both adults and children) is that you can only really understand/learn by doing. So, in theory, the more young people do the more literate and hence safer they should become.

For an overview of the point of the summit please watch Peter Packer.  Also there Daniel Snell,  Gareth Morlais, Nick Reynolds, Kevin Anderson and Hilary Perkins.