Communications and Society Program

Civic Engagement on the Move: How
mobile media can serve the public good

by J.D. Lasica, Rapporteur

Civic Engagement on the Move looks at how leading edge practitioners are using mobile media to engage citizens to solve problems, bridge differences and strengthen community. Mobile media technologies provide new tools for journalists, government and nonprofit agencies, civic organizers, elected officials, activists and ordinary citizens to inform, to reach out to others and to galvanize community action on a wide range of issues. Civic Engagement on the Move, written by J.D. Lasica, details the hallmarks of successful mobile campaigns around civic engagement and provides case studies of several successful and emerging initiatives, including those that came out of the recent Aspen Institute Roundtable on Mobile Media and Civic Engagement. Noted experts in the field add their insights on using mobile media, with a list of “Mobile Advocacy Dos and Don’ts” by Katrin Verclas of MobileActive and “A Mobile Media User’s Guide” by Jed Alpert, CEO of Mobile Commons.

To read the interactive version of the report, click on the table of contents below or Download Report in PDF.

Foreword, Jon Funabiki

Acknowledgements, Charles M. Firestone

Introduction

Setting the Table: Mobile Media and Community

        Coming together for solidarity and affinity

Glimmers of What’s Ahead: Mobile Media in the Wild

        Case Study: Computerized Neighborhood Environment Tracking (ComNETsm)
        Political uses of mobile media
        Mobile information services for the public good
        Creative uses of mobile media

Informing the Mobile Generation

        An explosive growth in community media
        A note of caution in the rush to citizen media nirvana

Civic Engagement and the New Mobile Activism

        Case Study: SexINFO: A Pilot SMS Mobile Project for Urban Youth
        Elements of a successful mobile campaign

Barriers to the Mobile Civic Sphere

        Barriers of price
        Barriers of closed networks
        Barriers of access

Strategies for Adapting Mobile to the Civic Sphere

        Social-cultural forms of mobile media
        Case Study: EdText
        Journalism and mobile media
        Case Study: The Twitter Posse
        M-governance and civic engagement
        Goals of m-governance