Aquifer Media & Will Coley: Social Media Content & Curation Strategy » immigrants

New video: Intro to Welcoming America

Will Coley — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:15:18 +0000

I just finished this new video for Welcoming America. What do you think?

Filed under: Internet video Tagged: immigrant rights, immigrants, immigration, Welcoming America

Language and text on the Internet

Will Coley — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:31:33 +0000

Another interesting article in the New York Times Magazine (I do read other outlets, I swear) was by Virginia Heffernan in her “The Medium” column. Heffernan chronicles her experience with non-English websites, comparing how Japanese and French websites treat strangers like herself.

I thought the article was interesting since it turns the tables on English speakers and makes us wonder how the “Anglosphere” treats non-English speakers. For organizations that work with new immigrants in the US, this is an interesting question and raises my own concerns about text-based communication on the Internet.

Many nonprofit organizations have jumped into the Web 2.0 world in spaces that rely heavily on text-based forms of communication (i.e. e-mails, blogs, etc.) but it may not always be the panacea for all their communications challenges. These spaces that often require above-average proficiency in English and savoir-faire in technology-based spaces.

Text-based communications technology such as e-mail is also infinitely replicable and consequently can become effectively meaningless to policymakers. Folks like Clay Shirky have pointed out that groups like MoveOn have had limited success in influencing Capitol Hill. Anonymity in creating text on blogs and bulletin boards also allows users to be contentious and intransigent in ways that do not promote true dialogue. Wikis, a form of on-line collaboration that allows users to edit text together, have shown the most promise in fostering new forms of collaboration. Yet even wikis require a common language, an extensive vocabulary and higher than average technological knowledge.

This makes me wonder if non-text-driven tools like video are easier for new English speakers to access. Heffernan’s experience on the Japanese website kind of backs this up. Video also requires more conceptualization and pre-planning, perhaps making it less spur of the moment and perhaps malicious. Also making decisions about framing and effective messaging provide a learning process for video creators.

Voting records of Presidential Contenders document their stance on Immigration

Will Coley — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:42:26 +0000

The 2008 presidential campaign is different than any other in recent memory. It’s the first in time in 48 years that two sitting Senators are vying for the presidency. It’s difficult for senators to win the post since their voting record on national issues is there for public scrutiny. Since 1968, Americans have elected governors or “outsiders” to the Congress. Now with two clear contenders in the ring for 2008, McCain and Obama’s legislative positions on immigration policies are on display for all to see and debate.

Immigration has been a thorny issue for John McCain. Over the past few months, he seems to be playing both sides of the issue. As co-author of the 2006 “McCain-Kennedy” bill , his primary opponents assailed McCain as being for “amnesty”. To counteract this perception, McCain was often quoted as saying that he would secure the border first before making any other immigration reforms. Now that he’s wrapped up the nomination, the Republican Party is casting him as pro-immigrant. National Public Radio broadcast a story this past week suggesting that Latinos might support McCain because of this. Also this week McCain met with Latino leaders on Wednesday in Chicago. One Latino Republican in attendance was quoted as saying, “He’s one John McCain in front of white Republicans. And he’s a different John McCain in front of Hispanics.”

Obama on the other hand has promised immigration reform during his first 100 days in office. Even so, Latino congressional reps are worried that Obama isn’t doing enough to court Latinos.

There was also news this week that Democrats are playing both sides of the issue by pushing for more funding for strong-arm enforcement measures.

Immigration is one of those “Alice in Wonderland”-type policy issues where normal positions seem to warp and change at random. With the national elections less than five months away, we’re sure to hear a lot more about the issue.

ACTION STEPS: Check out your candidate’s website to see what he says about immigration policy: McCain or Obama . Contact your candidate and tell him what you think of their position: Obama or McCain