From Karl Long

“I think one of the major problems is that Social Media is almost entirely grass roots and some of the most interesting and powerful stuff is hiding just bellow the surface.”

Now it may be a “problem” for the corporate types. But for those who are doing grassroots work anyway….

The Internet has finally matured enough to produce tools that work organically, socially - like real communities - and nurture relationships. Human social groups have been doing these things for thousands of years. Now we can do it digitally or virtually (whichever you prefer).

Take the following example:

www.chelseagreen.com

About page: “For more than 20 years, Chelsea Green has been the publishing leader for books on the politics and practice of sustainable living.”

How did I find them? I didn’t. Not in 30+ years. But they found me on Twitter. They use blogs, podcasts, tweets, Facebook, feeds, blip and more to reach out to audiences they never would have reached with traditional media. Are they using open source technologies? Probably. I’ll ask and provide an update at a later date.