A shout out to two friends in Northern Nigeria!

Thank you Muhammad Aasim Qamar (19) and Ahmad I. Mukoshy (15), Sokoto, Nigeria for your e-mail and update on your website GreatIndia - a fantastic, eclectic mix of Indian history, culture, links to online cricket games and Bollywood news. I really look forward to hearing more about your projects.

What is an online video sharing community? What is an internet reality show? What is Web 2.0?

I have received several e-mails in the last few days asking these questions. First, what is the difference been Web 1.0 and Web 2.0? As my friend in Australia wrote, "my position in the antipodes, where sometimes a land-based phone line is a challenge, means that I've only barely come in contact with Web 2.0 as a concept." Well there are many things I could say on the Web 2.0 topic. But, lets start out with Time Magazine's definition. "Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together as away for scientists to share research. It is not even the overhyped dotcom of the late 1990s. The new web is a very different thing. It is a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0 as if it were a new version of software. But, it's really a revolution." Click on the Time link to catch up on the December "Person of the Year Issue," that covers "the user-powered revolution." And, if you need an antidote from big media spin afterwords, I suggest a quick visit to Trend Spotting from the Daly Show on YouTube. When you've finished having a good laugh at youth culture and social networking (hey, the baby boomers are just jealous!), come back here to see how a social network from Buzznet, who posted their interests as activism will be putting together a piece on New Orleans for Ugonet - featuring lots of quirky video clips and "not emo" music.

So, what is Ugonet? Ugonet will be a video sharing community (when I get the scripts working on the ugonet.org domain!). Yes, ugonet is like a MySpace YouTube combo for social entrepreneurship and off grid folks around the world. Individuals and organzations worldwide - agents of change -- will be able to upload video clips and photos (for free), describe their projects, and manage the presentation (easily). You will be able to link your project into a bustling node on the digital nervous system without worrying about how another organization or blogger is (mis)representing your work! The site will allow you to set up groups, invite members, create networks of friends, and a lot more!


Next question, What is an internet reality show? How will this work? There are already several examples of the genre. The world's first internet reality says Technology News was launched by StudyAbroad in 2004. Combining television shows like MTV's The Real World and CBS's Amazing Race with blogging, StudyAbroad has created BlogAbroad, a website where three college students studying abroad during the spring semester keep an interactive journal of their adventures. They are given different tasks to complete during the semester and post comments, stories, pictures and videos available 24 hours a day. For more internet reality adventures, see Yahoo's proposed online reality series which follows two families as they refurbish their homes with $10,000 in electronics. I personally like better the idea of spending money on WiFi in an "off grid" community. Also, check out TyMeLyNe's online Hip Hop reality show. Several people have e-mailed me asking me for more details on the ugotrade reality show. How do you play? Well as soon as we have a bunch of folks up and running on ugonet's networking and clip sharing community, the online community can work out some of these questions together! Members will be able vote on a variety of different game plans and show formats, and if the show should go ahead. Well, I hope some of these links and brief explanations help. The main point is that ugonet will be a user generated video community, and the director of the show, in many ways, will be you!