Gini Nelson's Engaging Conflicts

Last year I posted about OneWebDay (what some call “an earthday for the web”) and here we are again… it’s tomorrow!

The mission of OneWebDay is to create, maintain, advance and promote a global day to celebrate online life. From the OneWebDay site:

OneWebDay, Sept. 22, is an Earth Day for the internet.

Here’s a very short overview video that will give you the idea (watch here) and a Rocketboom interview about OneWebDay (here). The first OneWebDay took place in 2006.

It’s easy to take the web for granted. But it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on what the web could mean to humankind in the future. That’s the purpose of OneWebDay, held each September 22.

There are substantial threats to the free flow of information online, all over the world. Many governments censor online content. (see opennet.net). Many people in developing nations can’t get online at all. We need to ensure that the internet used by future generations will be open and empowering — access to the internet is central to the future of humanity.

The idea behind OneWebDay is to encourage people to think of themselves as responsible for the internet, and to take good and visible actions on Sept. 22 that (1) celebrate the positive impact of the internet on the world and (2) shed light on the problems of access and information flow.

OneWebDay is a global, decentralized event. We’re encouraging people around the world to meet up on Sept. 22 to talk about how the web could change lives around the world in the future. We’re aiming for at least fifty of these events, and thanks to the Internet Society and others we’ve already heard from Poland, Italy, Colombia, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Kenya, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Belgium, Ethiopia, Tunisia, and other countries. In the US, there will be events in Los Angeles, Boston, Austin, and New York.