The only two articles you’ll be able to read on Wikipedia today describe the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House. The rest are unavailable due to a widespread blackout on the Internet. You might have noticed Google’s logo expressing their support, shown below. Google didn’t go as far as to shut the search engine down, which may very well put the Earth off its axis at this point, but they do have a SOPA/PIPA petition you can sign.

If you’re unfamiliar with this new legislation under review, it’s worth knowing about. The short version is that it has the potential to violate the First Amendment, censor and cripple the Internet, impose harmful regulations on American business and threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech actions. It is thoroughly documented, so I will point you to TechCrunch’s SOPA coverage for the latest.

Fellow tech entrepreneur Ben Huh, CEO of Cheezburger, has been fighting this battle for months. Go Ben! People took notice when Ben threatened to move his 1,000+ domain names away from GoDaddy if they continued to support the bill. Today, if you try to pull up one of his websites, FAIL Blog, you’ll see the following message before entering the site:

Ben is not alone. While Facebook hasn’t officially joined the ranks, Zuckerberg has. I haven’t been extremely vocal about this for various reasons, but not because I support the bills. I generally feel that ridiculous measures like this written by people who don’t truly understand the consequences will blow over in time. But that doesn’t just happen by accident. It happens thanks to thousands or millions of people who make a stand.

And it’s always a useful reminder of the power lawmakers have, and the attention we must pay to our own power to help them craft policies that positively influence our lives. Someone once told me that technology moves much faster than the law, and this is one of those points of conflict that can emerge.

If you want to help and have about 10 seconds, this SOPA/PIPA petition from Avaaz.org is a good place to start.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Entrepreneurship, Technology, Web

An old college friend who avoids social networks addressed an intriguing problem recently:

“I’ve just decided what it is I don’t like about Social Networking… it’s the idea that it, when push comes to shove, my people can bury your people… Please, tell me I’m wrong, that the end result doesn’t allow those with the most connections to dominate society further for their own benefit at the expense of those with the fewest connections. Much like the rich vs. the poor struggles of yesteryear, only now we can rise above money – look, it’s purely about fame and how well you’re liked.”

As an indirect middle finger to bullies of the past who gained advantage by physical body size, bullies in the social networking world are often the geeks! One of the reasons people are racing to Google+ is that it’s easier and more natural to organize friend groups based on the way humans naturally organize themselves rather than feeling like you’re a database admin trying to maximize the efficiency of a friend database.  

Somewhere deep within Facebook are the tools and settings to make sure the people you care about show up before the “bullies.” Also, perceptions are skewed when Facebook’s algorithm tends to give people exposure simply for talking more rather than saying something you’d necessarily care about. Google+ Circles seem to move this in the right direction by making it easier and more intuitive to share certain info with specific groups.

I’m not 100% sold on Google generally, as it often behaves as one of the biggest bullies out there. I think all of this is perhaps the greatest social experiments we’ve ever witnessed, certainly the most public. And like all things, once our fascination with the technology wears off we can just get back to being people. Until then, I agree that human nature seems only to fight against the true potential of this technology: to bring us together and make people more efficient and benevolent. It unfortunately tends to provoke paranoia, greed, and ego as well.

Humans and other primates are intoxicated by celebrity. Social media has elevated many of us to a level of semi-celebrity, but still lends power to those with means and connections above the masses. I’m not sure this will ever change, as I do believe it’s part of our very nature, for better or worse. I share the dream of technology enabling collective good, but feel that we are quite far from fully realizing it.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Marketing, Social Media, Technology, Web

The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept of “People, Planet, Profit“ demands that a company’s responsibility be to the people who are influenced in any way by the actions of the firm rather than the people who own it.

TBL is typically discussed in a big business context for two reasons: One, big businesses are by nature the farthest out of human touch with sustainability. Two, if you have to choose one business to make sustainable, a bigger business will have a bigger impact.

But what if we could create an integrated network of small local businesses and independent professionals with an eye on the ecological, economic, and social concepts expressed by the Triple Bottom Line related to their communities?

What if people all over the planet quietly frustrated with the status quo could find the voices of power they’ve lost in the wake of unprecedented corporate growth over the past century?

GoHuman’s vision is a world where these ideals are not afterthoughts, but rather integral and essential elements connecting every community and every business within those communities. We cannot afford for these to be abstract thoughts or luxuries. They are a necessary part of the emerging global consciousness and we need to integrate them into our personal and professional lives by igniting our tribal instincts.

In the United States and other parts of the world, the motivation to adopt this sustainable lifestyle is neither handed down by the government nor encouraged by our existing capitalist economic model. An intricate web of subsidies and loopholes has all but extinguished the basic humanity enjoyed in simpler times in favor of the almighty profit margin.

It’s not all doom and gloom. There is hope. We believe in a better way. It’s the passion that fuels GoHuman and the real people behind it — people just like you with the vision and gumption to do something about it.

It starts simply. It starts with an equitable marketplace that promotes balance amongst the people who use it by rewarding those who provide value with something equitable in return.

It starts with you.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Uncategorized

If the world isn’t ready to accept bloggers as journalists, then I must ask why it is that bloggers want to be considered journalists. I got out of journalism because I didn’t want to fight against the corporate interests and failing profit models. Social media, in particular blogging and independent journalism, has given me new hope in using broader sources of writing and investigation to find the truth. After all, isn’t that what journalism is really about? Reporting the truth as accurately as we can.

Not that I think all major news outlets need to go away. It might prove difficult for a group of bloggers to put together a reporting mission in Iraq. But I see more hope than hobby in the new regimes of citizen truth seekers. As even the most prominent journalism schools turn the study into more marketing than reporting, we must all question who really will have more access to and interest in the truth in the future.

The key issue here is defining who the government can force to reveal their source. Journalists are protected under the new bill. Bloggers and freelancers are not.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Social Media, Web

In reading and thinking about Obama’s new strategies and policy recommendations, I see this fear of socialism popping up here and there. While I’m not a support of a completely socialist system, I also know that no president has the power to bend the country that far in any direction. However, clearly his plans do have a more liberal or socialist bent than we’ve seen for a long time.

What’s changed? And why might it work this time around?

The Internet has finally come of age. Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia, and other sites have put the power of voice in the hands of the people. The only problem until now is that no one has been listening. With Obama’s deep understanding of the power of this medium, his ardent support of it, and his willingness to find solutions in the words of his constituents, I see a newfound hope that is encouraging, to say the least.

Blogs, forums, personal web sites, and comments across many sites create a network of conversation and debate that is not perfect, but is better than anything we’ve seen to date. No longer is the power of oratory limited to statesmen, scholars, elite businessmen,

For once, the government is asking for our opinions, and seems genuinely interested in what we have to say.

And for the first time in several years, we see the hope of a government that will hold itself accountable by embracing these technologies. The transparency of the Internet mandates that the people have a public voice. This voice has the power to persuade, argue, encourage, and identify wrong-doing with unprecedented equality, accuracy, and speed. Obama’s commitment to applying new marketing trends in technology to the government are enlightening:

“Among his proposals: making more government reports and data available online; Webcasts of all government meetings; and creating tech tools to allow users to track federal grants, contracts, lobbyist information and earmarks. He even proposes a five-day public comment period on any legislation pending before the White House.”

Granted there are problems. There is a great deal of noise out there, and it’s everyone’s job to sift through it. Technologies are getting better to allow us to do this, but human editors will always be necessary. A larger problem is the growing digital divide, which leaves millions of Americans out of this conversation. Democracy and equality are never comprehensive, even on the Internet, but we’re heading in the right direction.

Network Neutrality is going to be a key issue to keeping the Internet working as we know it, free and open to everyone who has access. And burgeoning organizations are focusing on the digital divide issue to make sure Broadband Internet is not a luxury, but a necessity for all Americans. Until we solve this issue and give everyone a voice, decisions will still be made by people who are not as directly affected by the results. That’s not democracy.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Entrepreneurship, General, Social Media, Web