I’m a huge advocate of internet technology being used to improve conditions around the world. In my own experiences in Silicon Valley, however, I’ve found that many there aren’t interested in social change. They’re interested in starting some web company based on a loose business model, selling it and retiring young. Who can blame them? That’s a real possibility and people would be stupid not to take advantage of eager investment and premature acquisitions. At any rate, I don’t believe villainizing people for their capitalist desires is a solution, instead we need to support those that do think a little bit more altruistically.
That said, at some point we’ve got to move past the ‘Hey look, me to!’ (*ahem* Plurk) phase and start making real progress towards improving life conditions domestically and around the globe. Umair Haque also recognizes this and posted a manifesto where he called for investors and start-ups to build applications that might “change the world” instead of just making apps that make money.
We’re richer, but that wealth doesn’t reflect durable, authentic economic value – which is hitting fast diminishing returns. The growth that we’re pursuing is neither sustainable – nor is it, in many ways, real growth at all.
I couldn’t agree more although, I have to disagree with Umair’s statement:
But I am a bit jealous of friends who are working on finding and funding alternative energy or biomedical technologies that have the potential to address the serious problems facing the world. At times it seems that helping the web become more social, intelligent, mobile, and playful is not as impactful.
While the efforts of people in those industries can hardly be diminished, I think the internet has huge potential for many different reasons. Preserving history, breaking down language barriers, creating work opportunities for developing regions, improving education etc… Thus, a more social (semantic) web is incredibly appealing for people like myself doing work with computers and the internet in developing nations.
About the author: Jonathan Gosier is a software developer, writer and social entrepreneur. He currently lives in Kampala, Uganda where he incubates and invests in East African entrepreneurs as the CEO of Appfrica Labs. He's also a TED Fellow.
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Demanding Substance from Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs
I’m a huge advocate of internet technology being used to improve conditions around the world. In my own experiences in Silicon Valley, however, I’ve found that many there aren’t interested in social change. They’re interested in starting some web company based on a loose business model, selling it and retiring young. Who can blame them? That’s a real possibility and people would be stupid not to take advantage of eager investment and premature acquisitions. At any rate, I don’t believe villainizing people for their capitalist desires is a solution, instead we need to support those that do think a little bit more altruistically.
That said, at some point we’ve got to move past the ‘Hey look, me to!’ (*ahem* Plurk) phase and start making real progress towards improving life conditions domestically and around the globe. Umair Haque also recognizes this and posted a manifesto where he called for investors and start-ups to build applications that might “change the world” instead of just making apps that make money.
I couldn’t agree more although, I have to disagree with Umair’s statement:
While the efforts of people in those industries can hardly be diminished, I think the internet has huge potential for many different reasons. Preserving history, breaking down language barriers, creating work opportunities for developing regions, improving education etc… Thus, a more social (semantic) web is incredibly appealing for people like myself doing work with computers and the internet in developing nations.