Deb's SM Survey:

I’m going out of town for a few days, but I’ll throw out links to a couple of interesting articles I’ve read to keep you busy while I’m away.

First, a student’s Facebook group to track progress on a civil unions bill in Illinois has become an effective tool for activism. The group now has 9,000 members. Like many of these online activism efforts, it wasn’t started by anyone formally affiliated with any organization. Which makes these efforts both more amazing and, possibly, more ephemeral. Without the collected wisdom of an organization behind it, will these spontaneous efforts eventually reach a limit to their effectiveness? We’ve barely begun to harness the power of the web for activism, but many people much smarter than I, like Clay Shirky, have begun exploring this question already.

Second, via Slog, comes an item about a new web 2.0 initiative for writers. Authonomy (now in private beta), run by Harper Collins, allows aspiring authors to post excerpts of their work for voting and commenting by the community. I may have to give this site a try. They can’t be more critical than some members of writing groups I’ve been in (yes, it was constructive criticism). You can read more at the Authonomy blog.

This morning I grabbed the laptop and walked a few minutes to a local café. One strawberry smoothie and a free wi-fi connection later, I was working. I’d already planned to write about the Economist’s recent special report on “the new nomadism,” but it’s even more appropriate after spending the morning living it. (OK, I’m actually writing this blog post from home, but I’m still on wireless on a laptop.

The general premise of the Economist articles wasn’t new to me (or to anyone who’s read Smart Mobs or is generally familiar with internet culture). Nevertheless, it was a fascinating speculation on how this new way of working — and living – will impact many aspects of society. The fact that office space may move away from the “cubicle farm” into a more fluid setup with shifting walls and multi-use spaces was fascinating.

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