JD Lasica has been one of the true guides in the evolution of Internet-based communities and networks for well more than a decade. His 2005 book Darknet was a seminal piece of reporting about the personal media revolution, and certainly an inspiration for some of what I’m trying to accomplish with CauseWired. And I’ve been reading JD’s blog for years. So it’s big news to me when his nonprofit startup platform for hosting user-created media, Ourmedia, shifts its business model – and in our direction. Writes JD:

This summer we’ll be relaunching Ourmedia as a social media platform and tools provider for cause organizations. We just hired a programmer and we’re in the process of upgrading the site to Drupal 6 as we build “cause pages” with specific calls to action (many more than are available on Facebook Causes) and customizable widgets — all part of an effort we call cloud campaigning.

I think that’s a fascinating shift – and clear evidence that user-created content is deeply embedded (no pun intended) in the world of online social activism, peer-to-peer philanthropy or whatever you want to call it. It will be interesting to see how Ourmedia develops in the “cause” sector and we’ll certainly be watching.

And speaking of JD, I wanted to point out his excellent interview with Hal Plotkin, the founder of ReelChanges.org, a video platform for social change. Here’s a bit, but please read the whole thing:

“ReelChanges.org reflects some of what I think many of us hoped could be achieved once we had better technology. I don’t mean to sound too utopian, but I think many of us born somewhere near the middle of the last century hoped that as more sophisticated technology came online over the last few decades it would enable more highly-evolved ways of living and of organizing our lives and our society, including greater empowerment of communities of interest and an overall decentralization of power. It hasn’t quite worked out that way in all cases. But ReelChanges.org advances that overall vision…”

Ourmedia, Platforms, ReelChanges, social media Platforms, Social Networks