Can Web 2.0 “save the planet” or are we just twittering away the time while the environment continues it’s downward spiral?
The advent of social media, affectionately referred to as “Web 2.0″ is having a profound impact on how people communicate. Its ability to bring like-minded people together from all around the globe is like nothing the world has ever seen.
As ethereal as the web is, how will we be able to track the results of the the collaborations that are formed within it’s various platforms?
Is web 2.0 just a lot of chatter or will it really change the world?
Often I see the world as a giant jigsaw puzzle, with all of us holding a stack of pieces that will fit into numerous puzzles. For 10,000 years before Alexander Graham Bell laid the ground work to tie the planet together with the telephone, our collective technology advanced relatively slowly. How many times do you think someone said to themselves, ” I have this great idea, if I could just figure out this one little part it would save a lot of people a lot of time.” and how often do you think the person with the solution was only a “few” miles away? Most people went through their entire lives with their puzzle pieces sitting on a shelf in their house.
Fast forward 135ish years, now people collaborate wirelessly all around the planet almost instantly. Most of them freely sharing their puzzle pieces and their contacts to others that hold puzzle pieces that others need.
I think this brings us to the point where we really find out what people are made of. Web 2.0 reveals our individual and collective character.
To paraphrase a quote: “Your reputation is who you are in the light, your character is who you are in the dark” In the web 2.0 society there’s someone with a camera enabled cell phone in the dark, with a twitter app. Any “momentary indiscretions” are likely to be displayed to the world in seconds.
There’s a story about a politician that was recently touring a combat zone, tweeting his movements to his followers. That indiscretion could have cost him and his entourage their lives if the enemy combatants had been “following” him on twitter.
The point is; How will we use this new power, this communication tool? Will it reveal that our collective character is just watching TV in the dark, waiting for someone else to make the changes we all seem to want in the world or will it show that “We are the change we’ve been waiting for?”
We’re helping Eco Preservation Society use Web 2.0 to raise funds for the largest Rainforest Reforestation project the world has ever seen. The intent is to gather enough funds to enable them to outbid logging companies all around the world for the land that they destroy for greed.
We invite you to join this grand experiment.
I believe Web 2.0 is here to “Save the Planet” I hope you prove me right.
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:05 am
We agree, check out our site. Notice the classes we’re offering now and the ones that start in June `09.
and the recent forum: http://greencollartech.com/hisf
We believe you are right. I would just add that this is still just the very very beginning stages of benefiting from the web. Sensor proliferation and massively linked data will cause much more change.
Nice photo!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 am
[...] Update: I found a great article by Dan Tefft from TreeBanker asking if Web 2.0 can save the planet. Awesome stuff! Have a read. [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 am
Awesome post! Never though of social media like that.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:00 am
I think it will be used for a combination of both. Humanity has a perverse need to be the camera in the dark, but, I also believe that most of us have a need for that higher calling as well.
The fact that all of us can now share our puzzle pieces in split seconds can only lead to awesome collaborations.
Here is what also needs to happen: realization that the act of sharing can be beneficial to all sides. It does no good to keep all your puzzle pieces on your desk because you are afraid of what might happen if you share.
Great article!
April 10th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Yes yes yes! This is an inspirational perspective. I’ve only been Twittering a few months but already I can sense its power to spread important ideas and link like-minded people. At best, Web 2.0 has the potential to support truer global democracy.
Corrina – CorrinaGB on Twitter
April 10th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Excellent points you bring up and my take is that everyone knows the environment needs our help but few actually think they can make a difference.
There are several projects underway that I think will help to motivate the masses, such as Cindy Gallop’s new website to debut later this year – checkout the Wired article http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/03/yes-we-plan-how.html
With our incredible access to eachother through social media, we can’t help but be optimistic that projects like these will make a difference.
Essentially, my personal feeling is that, just like Twitter has minimized communication down to 140 character bursts, projects like Cindy’s will reduce the action that one single person needs to take into something that is micro in size, empowers the individual, and makes 100X greater an impact because people will tend to do 15 micro actions in a week towards a common goal with other participants, rather than focusing on one large action by themselves.
April 13th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I recently gave a lecture on the subject called Environmentalism 2.0. My thesis is that YES it can, and YES it will (help) but not without the nonprofit world getting on board with hip media production and a strong call-to-action, something that is typically missing in almost any enviro web campaign. Must read if you are a nohnprofit:
http://www.mnn.com/technology/computers/blogs/can-the-internet-save-the-planet
April 14th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
thanks !! very helpful post!
April 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
[...] hours ago rtr09, smfail, w2e Can Web 2.0 Save the Planet? http://www.treebanker.com/?p=57 #rtr09 #w2e #smfail Lets Replant the Rainforests [...]
April 21st, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Live Search is sponsoring a developer contest where we hope Web 2.0 does save the planet – from the recession and ecology problems.
The Will Code for Green contest has a $10,000 prize for the best Web app using Live Search APIs that helps the ecology, and the 3 runners up get $3k each so not small there either. We are hoping grassroots orgs and tech folks form teams to create great entries that can then be taken into a business idea or maybe donated to a non-profit. The info is here if you are interested…
http://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch/archive/2009/04/14/will-you-code-for-green-this-spring.aspx