technology

Are Today's Young People Policital Game-changers?

by Kristen Cambell on 18 Nov 2008

By now, we’ve all seen the numbers about the incredible youth vote turn out—23 million young people voted, representing about 52 percent of the under-30 population, and 18 percent of the total electorate. But what does that mean? It means the question du jour is no longer “Will they turn out?” but “Will they stay out?”

So as I see it, the real question is, was the youth vote ever about the election, or something larger?

Enter, a November 6 panel discussion at the Center for American Progress titled “Are Today’s Young People Political Game-Changers?”, where many participants stated that election or not, young people are organically creating a movement that challenges status-quo power structures, requires transparency, and demands accountability in the government and across institutions. Read more »

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Be Extraordinary - In Less than 20 Minutes

by Kari Dunn Saratovsky on 17 Nov 2008

This past weekend, I sat down with Ben Rigby and Jacob Colker in between sessions at the Net Impact Conference in Philly. Ben and Jacob are co-founders of the Extraordinaries, and they want to turn your spare time into social good by delivering on-demand opportunities to volunteer. Sounds simple enough, but the real kicker, is that they are building a platform to enable all of this volunteer activity to take place on your mobile phone. Read more »

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Young People + Technology + Election = History?

by Kari Dunn Saratovsky on 31 Oct 2008

Fact: In four out of the past five presidential campaigns, Nickelodeon viewers have correctly chosen the President of the United States in their “Kids Pick the Prez” online poll. With a record-setting number of votes cast this year, Senator Obama received 51 percent of the vote while Senator McCain came in at 49 percent.

Why does this matter? Because young people are influencing this election in unprecedented ways -- and this group isn't even old enough to vote! Imagine, then, the significance of such participation among young voters who CAN pull the lever come election day.

Indeed, perhaps it’s a combination of keen interest among young people and campaigns who are utilizing the kinds of electronic tools familiar to today's youth that has political pundits and pollsters alike preparing for a historic turnout of young voters. The old notion that young people are impossible to reach because they don’t have landlines, don’t show up on mailing lists, and just don’t care is soooo 2004. Read more »

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Making It Your Own in a Hip Hop World

by Kristen Cambell on 8 Oct 2008 1

 Today's guest blogger, Asad Jafri is the coordinator of Leaders of the New School, a project located in the south side of Chicago that brings together local youth with artists and mentors to address and help resolve community issues through hip hop and urban arts. Leaders of the New School was one of the Final Four grantees in the Case Foundation’s Make It Your Own Awards, and Asad met earlier this week with representatives of the other 20 program finalists.

I'm personally not a fan of generic labels on an entire generation, but if I had to pick a broad term for the generation I fall under, it would be the Hip Hop Generation. I'm part of a generation that is ready to make change happen collectively with the limited resources around us. That also means I was organizing in my community before I knew what community organizing was. 

  Read more »

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Changing the World of Politics Online

by Kari Dunn Saratovsky on 26 Aug 2008

With convention season officially upon us, the political junkie within me couldn’t let the week go by without posting something related to politics. But since there are plenty of places for you to go and get the play by play about what’s happening in Denver (including on our good friend Allison Fine’s Blog), I thought I’d direct your attention to an interesting list put together by PoliticsOnline and World eDemocracy Forum .

For the ninth year in a row, they have announced this year’s list of nominees who are competing for the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics. Read more »

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