Resources On Grassroots Internet & Web
Grassroots means involving the common people to form a group for fundamental political, economical or any other group. Here are some examples of Grassroots deployment or use of Internet and Web technologies.
Wikileaks : The whistle-blowing Web site allows sources all over the world to securely and anonymously leak a variety of material from military training manuals to evidence of corporate malfeasance.[via DailyTitan]
Defective By DesignIt is an anti-digital rights management (DRM) initiative by the Free Software Foundation. DRM technology, dubbed "digital restrictions management" by opponents, restricts users’ ability to freely use their purchased movies, music, literature and software in ways they are accustomed to, with ordinary non-restricted media. [Via Wikipedia]
Web Standards Project: The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.
Free Cycle: It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.
Global Giving: ‘intelligent’ philanthropy. You choose the project you care about. You give online. Your money goes directly to the project.Smart and simple.
Freerice.com – Improve vocabulory and donate rice each time you crack a word [Via @ragahavs]
Our Media: Grassroots media initiative, allows free hosting for video and podcast producers.
Grassroots.org : Mission from site: To serve as a catalyst for positive social change by leveraging modern technologies and business best practices.Our ultimate goal is to adopt 10,000 nonprofit members, and to provide them each with an average of $10,000 of services per year at no charge (for a total savings of $100 million per year!).
IT & Grassroots Democracy: A Case Study of Environmental Activism in China by Guobin Yang
Grassroots.com: Grassroots for enterprise. From communications strategy, blog strategy to products and cause marketing.
WorldChanging.com: From the site: WorldChanging.com works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it’s here. We only need to put the pieces together.
Grassroots Campaign : Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (GCI) is an independent, for-profit organization that does strategic consulting, fundraising, and field organizing for causes and candidates. They run face-to-face fundraising operations in neighborhoods and in high-traffic public venues to fundraise and build support for political groups, issues, and campaigns.[Via Wikipedia]
SRISTI: A non-governmental organisation setup to strengthen the creativity of grassroots inventors, innovators and ecopreneurs engaged in conserving biodiversity and developing eco-friendly solutions to local problems. [Via ThinkChange India]
IndyMedia: Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth.
Tools for powering up and create your own grassroots initiative on the web:
Google Non-profits: Learn how to use free Google tools to promote your work, raise money, and operate more efficiently.
CivicSpace: Powering social change: A port of popular content management system Drupal but geared more towards promoting cause, communities, volunteering, events, discussions. This content management system is a great tool of non-profits and grassroots as a out-of-the-box solution. Try a demo here
Grassroots Real Time Collaboration Tools: Robin Good’s presentation of grassroots collaboration tools Traits and tools for virtual team workers. Jonathon has picked up the products listed in Robin Goods presentation and consolidated here
(Book) We The Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People By Dan Gillmor
Some more examples of Grassroots web initiatives:
Open source and grassroots media projects: A huge list of Open source projects and grassroots media initiatives
Social Change Websites:Social Change Websites is a directory of the best nonprofit, grassroots, and advocacy campaign websites dedicated to making a difference in the world. A nice site with categories so that you can find the grassroots in the area of your interest.
Related posts:
- Pew Internet’s report on Government Online & Public Data Access
- Privacy – Whatever it is but we can’t afford to believe in it
- Mob Karma version 2 coming soon (Need Ideas)
- The Internet's impact on Institutions of the Future
- Study: The Future of the Internet
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With Obama and McCain debating over who will take control of the nation whose work policies are the most poisonous to sentient life I have ever seen, perhaps it is due time to appeal to natural forces that are in no way tied into the idol bashing regime of the bible/quran/torah or any of the violent regimes who may be using manifest destiny as an excuse to impose their stranglehold on society, so that we can have land, resources, and nature that are in no way tied to such forces.
Those who do not seek a bloodbath or stranglhold in order to gain power, as well as compete and exchange resources, should not have to live in areas of the globe where the racist, sexist, and homophobic entities of zionist/neocolonial America can spread their poison. The delusions that we should “know who we are” should be dispelled, and it is only those who want to dispel such delusions that will gain my respect.
I would rather see my son smoking a joint then signing his life and conscience away to the predators who have infested much of Americas economic and political spectrum. We’ll see whose still standing.
Hopefully there are an unlimited amount of deities, entities, and individuals who hate the regimes I have come into contact with here in Saint Louis, just as much as I do. It is such personalities who would not allow such anti-existential forces into my life to this capacity, that I should be serving with my time and income.
They are such vile creatures that they actually would convince a fish that he is lost because he won’t end up dead on their dinner plate, after eating the bait “he doesn’t know what he’s missing out on” for a mere ten seconds… compared to the life coolture that I should be establishing.