Last month there was much made about social media’s impact on the coverage of protests in Iran. At the 140 Conference
Robert Scoble moderated a panel of journalists and producers that discussed the impact of Twitter on mainstream news media, specifically using the Iran election to illustrate the power of essentially the people. You can see this panel on mainstream media and Iran coverage after a short registration.

In this case it was the people of Iran who were heard around the world as events unfolded in that secretive country. Profiles like change4iran on Twitter and the ability to see the Iranian protest and election issue tracked online gave this medium credibility and power. The medium gave a voice to those in the streets, and to those that had their voices silenced. The image of Neda instantly became an icon of the brutality visited on protesters.

There is a human desire to be heard, especially when the intrinsic values of right and wrong which are universally understood are violated. The social technology in place today helps facilitate that desire. So beyond monetizing a blog and wondering how Twitter will make money, I’ll use today, Independence weekend in the United States, to share a video I did last year with Robert Scoble and Ning CEO Gina Bianchini.  After interviewing them, it struck me that many of their comments were about freedom, basic human freedoms wrapped in the context of social media. So I put this Little Diddy together set to John Mellencamp’s Crumblin Down.

Freedom is Social from Albert Maruggi on Vimeo.

Ning is a wonderful platform with hundreds of thousands of social networks from around the world. In the spirit of uncovering oppression, one of my favorite networks on Ning is the Frontline Club and the Frontline Club website

Let freedom ring.

Book Giveaway Drawing – Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan

The book a lot of people are talking about will be available in late August, called Trust Agents by Chris Brogan, with Julien Smith. We will hold a drawing and pre-order the book for one Marketing Edge listener/reader. Email me at marketingedge AT providentpartners DOT net with the word TRUST in the subject line. We will name a winner at the beginning of August.

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