Online Advocacy - Quick 'n' Easy Organizing Tools
Voice and Text
twitter
http://www.twitter.com
What it does : Send and receive messages, with mobile by SMS, webpage, or from IM/Jabber/gchat. Send direct messages to one person. Send messages to only closed group of contacts.
What it wont do : Limited, like text, to 140 characters per message.
Suggested Use : It’s a lightweight mass-SMS sending system so it can be updated (and read) via mobile, and can reach in to urgent areas or situations in a way the internet can't.
Advocacy Example : -Alaa’s Twitter feed http://twitter.com/alaa has been very innovative as it was the first time someone used the service to coordinate activities of activists (in Egypt).
Who Owns It : Obvious, http://obvious.com/
Who Owns Your Content : You do. They claim “What's yours is yours”
Privacy Concerns : There has been some concern over privacy and authentication methods on twitter. Caution is advised in putting sensitive information over twitter. See http://blog.spywareguide.com/2007/04/first_spoofing_attacks_against.html for more info.
Comments : Very useful for keeping track of people at events.
txtmob
http://txtmob.com
What it does : Send SMS to groups that you create. Create public or private groups, moderated or unmoderated.
What it wont do : Not available on all mobile networks. Current networks that will work with Txtmob are in the US, Canada and the Ukraine.
Suggested Use : Could be used to organize live for demonstrations and to communicate discreetly.
Advocacy Example : It was developed initially for protestors at the Democratic National Convention in Boston and the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. The text messages sent through txtmob notified activists of police locations and moment-to-moment changes in the location and configuration of protestors.
Who Owns It : Tad Hirsch, a researcher in MIT's Smart Cities Group continues to offer TXTmob as a free service to the general public.
Who Owns Your Content : “anytime you publish through Txtmob, upload to and or distribute information through our Service, you are granting Txtmob the right to publicly display, copy, edit, delete and distribute such works.”
Privacy Concerns : TXTmob goes to great lengths to keep phone numbers and information private. That said, mobs are only as private as its moderators allow it to be. Great care should be taken to authenticate numbers in groups that share critical information.
Comments : See reports on Txtmob use at: “Indymedia and the Text Messaging Jihad”: http://www.democracynow.org/static/ny_model.shtml - Ruckus RNC 2004 Text Alerts: http://www.upoc.com/group.jsp?group=rnc
Skype
http://www.skype.com
What it does : Securely make VOIP (voice-over-IP) and video calls, using a microphone and computer. Land or mobile phone lines can call into your line at a rate depending on their location.
What it wont do : Can only talk freely to other Skype members. 10 total users permitted for conference calls.
Suggested Use : -The possibility to plan conference calls between parties in different areas can be a key element to organize an activity if there’s no time to plan a meeting.
Advocacy Example : ActionAid set up a Skype connection at the HIV & AIDS conference in Toronto and provided activists in India, Nepal, Nigeria and Honduras with a Skype connection. People then had the opportunity to hear the concerns of the HIV activists and practitioners first hand even though they couldn’t afford or weren’t invited to be at the conference. It is part of an ongoing experiment to create real dialogue between decision makers and poor/ marginalised people (http://www.actionaid.org.uk/100528/advo_casting_gives_activists_a_voice_at_aids_conference.html)
Who Owns It : eBay, http://pages.ebay.com/aboutebay/thecompany/companyoverview.html
Who Owns Your Content : Communication is encrypted and not ever stored on Skype's servers
Privacy Concerns : Part of Skype's popularity is that it has point to point encrypted communication built in. However, this feature is disabled in China to comply with chinese law WHILE skype refuses to comply with U.S. Law allowing for wiretapping on digital phone networks.
Comments : Skype provides text based and saved transcripts of chats can be good for later reference and planning. Text based chat can be useful at times when there is insufficient bandwidth for voice communication.
Resources : http://new.tacticaltech.org/skype_security
Categories:
Organising Tools: Voice and Text
Visualising Tools: Photos, Videos and Mapping