Proposal

The Proposal/Brief

 

University of Brighton

Sussex Downs College Lewes

BA (Hons) Digital Media Design

INDEPENDENT STUDY ASSESSMENT PROJECT

Registration of Project Choice

The completion of this paper registers your choice of independent project, please type or write clearly and neatly.

Name of student	Maribel Trillo
Chosen Project, please indicate	Allow the truth to come out during contentious actions in Venezuela.
Project title	Corre La Voz 2.0 (Put the word out)

Background

“Yet if citizens can form ad-hoc groups, gain access to unbiased information and connect with each other, challenges to the state become more likely. And social theorists like Robert Putnam argue that the emergence of such groups increases social capital and trust among citizens.” (Morozov, 2009)

Since February, Venezuelans have been witnessed the largest anti-government protests in a decade.  In Venezuela there is not freedom of Press, so citizens know what is happening during contentious events by connecting with others through Information and Communication Technologies, such as Mobile Phone, Landline phone, Desktops, SMS, WhatsApp, Zello, Facebook and Twitter. In some cases, the interchange of communication is just limited to the group. At the same time, Venezuelans need to verify if the information is coming from trusted source, as it had been evidenced that some information posted were faked or biased. Moreover, Venezuelans do not have a clear view about what is going on, as the information is dispersed among different media.  In a specific moment, it is difficult to know about the events in the whole country, and this is important for enabling Information Cascades.  Furthermore, the Government shut down the Internet leaving only communication through SMS and word of mouth by phone or face to face, and also block content posted through online social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Purpose

To create a platform for Venezuelans to report contentious events in their local area, in order to communicate and visualize validated information about what is really happening in Venezuela during these events.

Requirements

1.   Validate and Filter real-time information such as Text, Audio and Video from channels like SMS, Twitter, Facebook and Email.

2.   As some areas or by moment of time the Internet can be difficult to access or completely unavailable, the platform should use mobile phones as a main feature for sending and receiving information during the unrest.

3.   To Use an interactive map or a time line to visualize information that can be use from a desktop or smart mobile phone.

4.   Share information through social media

5.   Use accurate location data.

6.   Assure security of the informant and information, and also backup the Information in an offline media.

Target Audience

It will be use mainly by Venezuelans with access to a mobile phone, but also citizens with access to the Internet in order to validate and maintain the platform.

Platform

It is a Web platform created with the mobile phone as a main element.  I will use Ushahidi as an open source mapping and content management system.  “The main goal of the organization is to create a system that facilitates early warning systems and helps in data visualization for response and recovery.” (Ushahidi, 2014)

Time Management

Reading list

Dijck, J., 2012, Tracing Twitter: The Rise of a Microblogging platform. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 7 (3): 333-348. Available at: <http://dare.uva.nl/document/448473> [Accessed on 5^th March 2014].

Gustafson, A., 2011. Adaptive Web Design. Easy Readers Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Krug, S., 2010. Rocket Surgery Made Easy. New Riders. USA.

Morozov, E. 2009. How dictators watch us on the web. Prospect, [online] Available at: <http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/how-dictators-watch-us-on-the-web/#.UqydSJHpj1o> [Accessed on 5th March 2014].

Meier, P., 2011. Do “Liberation Technologies” Change The Balance of Power Between Repressive States And Civil Society?. [pdf] iRevolution.net. Available at: <http://irevolution.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/meier-dissertation-final.pdf> [Accessed on 5^th March 2014].

Rheingold, H., 1993. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier [online] Available at: <http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/> [Accessed on 5^th March 2014].

Rheingold, H., 2012. Net Smart. How to Thrive Online. London: The MIT Press.

Ushahidi, 2014. Ushahidi. Available at: <http://ushahidi.com> [Accessed on 5^th March 2014].

Zeldman, J. and Marcotte, E., 2010. Designing with Web Standards. Third Edition. New Riders. USA.

Zuckerman, E., 2007.Anonymous Blogging with Wordpress and Tor [pdf]. Available at: < https://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/guide/> [Accessed on 5^th March 2014].