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There's some nice histories of the Internet knocking around, like this animated documentary using PICOL icons . The Internet changes so fast that webheads use the word 'traditional' for stuff we were doing 2 years ago.

And there's an upsurge in people figuring out how to use the Interweb for social change which was my deepest hope when I started this blog.

It seems like the Interweb is ready to make real history, influencing social and political upheavals. But a lot of the talk puts the Interweb alongside Guns, Germs, and Steel; a technical determinism that ignores the cultural history of socio-economic change.

Why aren't people closest to the curve talking about the currents that are resurfacing through the gaps rendered by social media? Maybe Net generation insiders have a narrow perception of what's going on. On the Netsquared blog, Alex Steed questions the narrow conformity of ideas being circulated:

Q: What books have you read this year?
A: Here Comes Everybody, Groundswell, Tribes ... you know - the usual.
Q: Anything else?
A: I've been meaning to, but not yet. Hopefully in 2009! [Nervous, embarrassed giggles]

As he puts it - "Social change has a history. It didn't begin with Twitter, or Barack Obama. I think that 2009 will really be a year in which we go back to the history books in order to figure out how to move forward".

Here's to a history of the Interweb where The Diggers doesn't refer to people voting web stories up and down...

Some events just make you go 'hmmm', and last week's Amplified08 was one of them. A critical mass of UK social media types assembled themselves at NESTA for an evening's unconference, and real cred goes to the volunteer organizers for pulling it together. The declared mission of this Network of Networks is to boost interconnectedness - but that strength also seemed to me to be it's weakness. Amongst the Twittering throng my head throbbed with the question 'Amplify what?'. Amplify creativity? Amplify business? Amplify racism?

Perhaps most of the crowd at #amp08 felt that more connectedness is enough of a purpose, and fair play to that. Robert Putnam's take on Social Capital highlights the collective value of all social networks and the inclinations that arise from these networks as a broad societal measure of communal health. But let's not forget that Bourdieu, another pioneer theorist of social capital, emphasises it's role in forming and maintaining elites. Part of my 'hmmm' is to wonder which way is the Amplified 08 - 09 - 10 train is heading.

The other 'hmmm' I have is a frustration that there could be something really powerful in Amplified 09, but only if it's mixed with other ingredients. The voices that really need amplifying are "the Other"; the excluded and the marginalised. I'd be switched on by a social media geek gathering that nailed that mission to it's mast, in the same way that 4IP is digitalising Channel 4's public mission to "champion alternative voices and fresh perspective and to challenge people to see the world differently". So we've had Amplified 08 and we know who 'we' are; let's get out there and mash it up with the outsiders. As it says in NESTA Connect's core beliefs "extreme collaboration can lead to bigger leaps forward".

A bemused bald guy at Amplified 08.(Photo by Lloyd Davies )

The Austin Tweetup Blood Drive: nice example of how online tools can be used to organise offline action. Twitter users will know how memes sweep across Twitter feeds - I like the way that's been turned into something real.  (Cred to the We Are Media Project for surfacing this). 

AustinBloodDriveTweetup from Kristine Gloria on Vimeo.

The Open Rights Group is looking for new Board members (closing date for applications: Tuesday 28 October). As one of the current board I've blogged before about the necessity & effectiveness of ORG (BISH! to copyright term extension and BASH! to e-voting) - since then, ORG has been even more active in protecting our digital civil liberties. Recent top picks include

• online advocacy (ask your MEPs to vote for Telecom package amendments)
• creative photo-actions (Freedom Not Fear: the Big Picture unveiled on Parliament Square)
• open culture & business events (Open Source for Games Developers - A Debate on New Business Models) 

I'm happy to spend most of my time working on the cool ways that the Internets can be used to make a better world, but we all need to wake up to the multiple threats enroaching on internet freedom. So if you're inspired by the idea of standing up for digital rights  take a look at our detailed job description and apply for a place on ORG's Board.

Footnote: if you're an ecampaigner or you're using the internet for campaigning, don't forget the lessons of history - the rights we've got are the ones we've fought for. (See also eCampaigning for Internet Freedom).

Come and join the Open Rights Group this Saturday (11th Oct 2008) as we stage a photo-action in Parliament Square with our friends No2ID . Our action is part of the international Freedom Not Fear day against the total retention of telecommunication data and other instruments of surveillance.

If you can't make it on the day, don't worry; you can still contribute. We need as many people as possible to take photos of stuff that embodies the database state, and the UK’s world-famous surveillance society. Here are instructions for sending us your photos. If you’d like to join the action, email info [AT] openrightsgroup.org and let us know.

The power of the Freedom Not Fear concept comes from linking opposition to technical measures, like blanket surveillance and filtering of internet communications (EU Telecoms-Package) and blanket logging of communications and locations (data retention), to a positive vision of a free and open society.

And the growing reach and scale of the day of action is impressive; one of the organizers emailed me yesterday to say that "in Berlin, things are shaping up really well. We have more than a hundred organizations that call for the demonstration, most of the 100 buses from all over Germany are booked out, there will be a club night afterwards with prominent DJs, films, keysigning parties etc. I am really blown away how this all has developed from a vague idea into an international action. In the Netherlands, they even have three demonstrations (Amsterdam, The Hague and Rottterdam). And we had inquiries from places as remote as Sri Lanka about how to join FnF."

A thread on the Progressive Exchange list asks "What's the best online response to the bailout?". For my money (heh heh) the star is www.buymyshitpile.com, which reckons we should all benefit from the $700bn rescue deal. Use their form to submit bad assets you'd like the US government to take off your hands.

If you like a bit more depth, the Sunlight Foundation has an awesome dynamic visualisation of campaign contributions by the finance, insurance and real estate industries, showing how they peaked as regulatory mechanisms were being dismantled. Click on the play button to see the visualisation, and roll-over the circles to see the industry sector.

Thanks to Nisha from Sunlight for pointing out that they're pressing Congress to make the legislation public and to let citizens comment and review.  While PublicMarkup.org is an admirable tool for online citizen participation, I don't see the decision-makers taking much notice unless they're pushed by offline action as well. One of the (many) amazing things about the 2001 crisis in Argentina was watching respectable members of the middle classes beating down the doors of the banks during the cacerolazos. If the internet is to have a place in the history of the current crisis, it may well be as a tool to for offline organising.

A protest and cacerolazo in 2002. The large sign reads "Thieving banks - give back our dollars".(Photo by Pepe Robles)

I often find myself trying to convey a sense of social media to people with no experience of it. This is a slippery business; as the Tao Te Ching says "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao".

My own touchpoints range from "the Internet is a social condition" though "social software is the experimental wing of political philosophy" - but these are truths distilled from experience, not intros for newbies. Perhaps "it's social, stupid" has more of that Zen directness (thanks Lloyd). 

Perhaps we need something like The Tao of Pooh for social media (without the teeth-grinding cutesyness). I guess the nearest I've seen is Lynette Webb's Interesting Snippets (via Mediasnackers) but there's surely room for a Chrome comic take on it.

Yadda yadda Seedcamp 08, filling my twitterfeed. I've said before we need one for social innovation, and only this week I heard that one of the Catalyst shortlist was having to semi-fold because support was slow to materialise.

I'm about to submit recommendations from the Catalyst Awards to No. 10 et al; I reckon I should propose something like Seedcamp to fund & incubate the successful applicants. Ping me if you've got any ideas about how to get a Seedcamp for Social Innovation off the ground. Can the Many-Headed Hydra, er sorry, Government, be persuaded to put funds in to the pot? We'll see...