Sociosophy

Ning.com is used for a number of things, dog owners, crochet addicts, borad game players… But recently, Cyan Banister came up with the idea of using Ning for a good cause, “Fight for Equal Rights”. Inspired by Harvey Milk, she created the Harvey Milk Ning social network, and called on some friends to create a wristband to support the cause. The wristband and the site boast the simple monacre, “NEVER BLEND IN“.

The message of the site is simple, but seemingly complicated, as today’s society is only half on-bard with equality. Not to roll down a road of politics on Sociosophy, I’ll keep it simple and post the main message of the site here:

Minorities of all types have always been in the front lines of the battle for equality under the law. The message and color of the white bracelet honors the life and name of Harvey Milk, who like Martin Luther King was a minority leader whose message of hope transcended the issues of his day.

30 years ago, in perhaps his most important victory, Milk campaigned against The Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban openly gay and lesbian teachers from public schools in California. Because of his fight and the support of millions of voters, Proposition 6 was defeated at the polls in November 1978. His assassination later that same month saddened many across the political spectrum and silenced an important political voice.

Ning is a network of social networks, customizable to include pretty much whatever you want.

There are applications you can add to your “Page”, such as the Twitter Search application, Status Update application, Photo Gallery, Music Jukebox, and even board games. Ning’s all inclusive, and vast feature set, really makes for an unlimited user experience.

This is it! Blogger week’s been fun, and last but definitely not least, Sociosophy reviews:

Sean Bonner – http://seanbonner.com

Sociosophy: What was the reason you started to blog?

Sean Bonner: It’s something I’ve always done, some kind of weird need to spill my guts to strangers or something. When I was in college I used to write these one page fanzine things – I’d just type until I filled up a page and then that would be the end. I’d photocopy them and leave them around in record stores and stuff. Later on when people started getting online it only made sense to do something similar there. At first I was handcoding pages and FTPing them up so it wasn’t quite so fluid, and it turns out other people were doing it to which lead to software to make it easier and eventually people started calling it blogging.

Sociosophy: What keeps you going?

Sean Bonner: I really don’t know what keeps me going, I’ve thought about quitting before but I keep going back and kind of can’t resist. It’s a weird kind of therapy in many ways, plus I’m delusional and think it might lead to something better someday.

If there was ever an award to be given out for “Most Down to Earth Blogger”, it’d probably go to Sean Bonner. The guy’s got talent, is part of one of the largest blogging networks in the world, MetBlogs, and still manages to be completely human about the whole blogging thing. Like the other bloggers included in Blogger Week, he writes about what interests him, and it just happens to be things that interest a lot of others, there’s no motive to turn blogging in to gold, it’s genuine, and it’s real.

(more…)

Louis Gray – http://www.louisgray.com/

Sociosophy: “What was the reason you started to blog?”

Louis Gray: “I started to blog because I have a passion for technology, and I often found that I had ideas on how I could make products and services better – providing feedback and making observations, as an early adopter and active user. With a writing and journalism background, it soon became second nature to roll out posts on things like Google, Apple and Microsoft, and I soon got the opportunity to connect with services and their entrepreneurs as they debuted.”

Sociosophy: “What keeps you going?”

Louis Gray: “A combination of interesting stories, feedback from regular readers, and the personal connections that have evolved – be they entrepreneurs, peers in blogging and reporting, or readers.”

I’ve never met Louis Gray (in person), but I really want to. To me, he seems like the kinda guy that’s just really into the thing that makes the world go ’round, technology. Someone that loves tech and gets elbow deep in the stuff to the point where the community lifts him up above the other bloggers and says, “here’s a guy you gotta read!”, just awesome.  He’s a bright guy with a lot to say about things that matter, understands the bigger picture of technology, and if you pay attention, you can see that in his blog. (more…)

Brain Solis – http://briansolis.com

Sociosophy: What was the reason you started to blog? What keeps you going?

Brian Solis: PR 2.0 is a looking glass into the experiences, observations, and trends defining the new media landscape. Before I blogged, I wrote for industry publications and newsletters to share my ideas and lessons learned with those who were looking to grow together. The community inspires me. Innovation is my muse.

Have you ever met Brian Solis? If the answer is “No”, you need to make a point to run into him. I’ve had a few short run-ins with Solis over the past year, and though brief, the all-smiles positive energy he gives off is nothing if not motivating. Somehow, being smart and having personality has become “a thing” over the past 10 years or so, and he is definitely walking proof of that. (more…)

Chris Brogan, Social media business strategy - http://www.chrisbrogan.com/

Sociosophy: “What was the reason you started to blog? What keeps you going?”

Chris: “I started in 1998 to be heard. I wanted to express my interests, to share my writing, and to connect with like minded people. Those reasons haven’t changed, though the subject matter has. My blog is part of what has brought me 100% of my business for the last few years, through speaking and consulting projects.”

It’s funny… If you read Chris’ about page, it has a sub-section “What Chris Has Done”, and reading through the list, followed by “Disclosures and Relationships”, I think it’d be easier to ask: WTF hasn’t Chris done? To make it all better, he’s a down-right, honest-to-goodness, whole hearted blogger that expresses himself very clearly, and with a community-centric motive that’s rarely overlooked by the web community, and it shows.

(more…)