Il faut faire attention à comment les gens utilisent ces outils, où sont les opportunités… Si nous n'y prenons garde, nous finirons avec des lois qui limitent sévèrement l'accès des populations à l'utilisation d'internet partout dans le monde.

Rahaf Harfoush est responsable de la stratégie des médias sociaux au World Economic Forum, après avoir eu un rôle dans l'organisation de la campagne politique d'Obama sur le net. La question qu'elle adresse à l'assistance de Lift est simple : “Comment les réseaux sociaux transforment-ils notre interaction avec le monde politique ? Internet a-t-il un impact sur la façon dont les citoyens peuvent influencer la politique ?

80+ minutes long presentation, with audio

In this talk, consultant, professor and author Clay Shirky discusses the unprecedented immediacy of real-time citizen journalism made possible by social media and the nearly ubiquitous access to mobile web technologies. From the election crisis in Iran () to the massive earthquake that shook China in May of 2008, Shirky discusses how media is made on the ground, as-it-happens, via the social web.

One of the best parts of this past year has been that I've gone through long periods where I didn't have Internet access. That's brought me a heightened and renewed sense of my purpose in the world and my authentic desire to make the world a better place. I'd like to be able to continue to support campaigns - even for-profit ventures - that I believe in, and I think social business is a wonderful intersection of the two.

4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business

1. From “Trying to Sell” to “Making Connections
2. From “Large Campaigns” to “Small Acts”
3. From “Controlling Our Image” to “Being Ourselves”
4. From “Hard to Reach” to “Available Everywhere”

While testing the system during the past nine months, Marty Taylor Collins, a group marketing manager for Microsoft, said the information acquired on at least two occasions saved her department from a serious misstep. First, the tool halted her team's plan to discontinue an ad campaign when it helped them discover that a lead character had quietly become popular. In another instance, a PR disaster was averted during the beta-test release of Windows 7, after a system crashed just after launch.