iPrint Group
Critical Resource Analysis
March 3, 2010
In his book, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, Howard Rheingold takes a comprehensive look at how communities and individuals center on developing technology. As technology continues to grow, people are beginning to discover was to communicate via the Internet and their mobile devices. Howard Rheingold discusses how groups can cooperate together to form “smart mobs” and share information using computing devices.
Some of the things on Rheingold’s book are outdated; it was published in 2002, and communication technologies have significantly evolved since then. For example, Rheingold writes that, “by Spring of 2001, 90 percent of Tokyo-area high school students possessed a mobile phone” (6). However, according to the Pew Research Center, in 2008, 84 percent of teens aged 17 had a cell phone in the United States in 2008. Mobile devices are more applicable to this student advocacy project because of a significant growth in technology. More people are using communication devices here in the United States. Also, Rheingold discusses a breakthrough in Norway where, “cell phone users were able to access a social network even when participating in another social event” (6). Today, college students in the United States are always instructed to turn off their cell phones in class; otherwise, they would be texting or accessing their Facebook, Twitter, or blog account to receive updates from friends and relatives. For this project, we must remember the power of social networking sites, and their availability to access users through applications on almost any mobile communication device.
One strategy that can be drawn from Smart Mobs is lies in the way Rheingold approaches social networks. Rheingold explains that,
“Every time someone interacts with another person, there is the potential to exchange information about people they both know. The structure of everyone’s links to everyone else is a network that acts as a channel through which news, job tips, possible romantic partners and contagious diseases travel. Social networks can be measured, and interconnections can be charted, from relationships between interlocking boards of directors of major corporations to terrorist networks” (56).
When we think of our project as a chance to make a change, we should view our advocacy materials as the link to a vast exchange of information. If we can tap into the social networking correctly, we can unleash our information nationally, perhaps even globally - as Rheingold puts it, “the person becomes the portal” (57). We must start by providing a GFN, or group forming network. This group forming network will provide people with the base to exchange necessary information, and take your information with them. It is important to remember what helps with information exchange: friend lists, discussion boards, and chat rooms. All of these communication materials will spur discussion about your project and encourage people to revisit your network for more news and information (60). Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can do this for us, and can help our advocacy project reach people outside of our communication zone.
One other point to remember from Rheingold’s book is that all of us can tackle the advocacy project if we conduct ourselves in a professional manner. “Many-to-many communications media have proved to be popular and democratic. The disappointing news about virtual communities is that you don’t have to be civil, capable of communicating coherently, or know what you are talking about in order to express yourself to others” 121. Rheingold points out that if you don’t strive to communicate civilly, you drive away the people the people that may be of the most value to your purpose. If we want a response and a change to occur for our advocacy projects, then we must take our communication seriously with people, even on the Internet.