In my research I am looking at how internet, mobiles, and new ICTs can be used for making a sustainable society. Social media is one of the key technologies that I see can have (is having) a deep impact. Social media tools are allowing new ways of organizing, of creating content, develop ideas, create change… in a grassroots way, horizontally, but in a huge new scale that was not possible before. A change in scales:

• geographically (allowing global interactions)
• temporal (changes and ideas develop much faster)
• in size (a change from the concept of participation from the greek agora, limited by the size of the public space, to a global participation, only limited by technological access , and remember that 60% of the world already owns a mobile phone)

Kiva.org is one of the key examples I always mention. It uses technology to link entrepreneurs in needs of small amounts of money in developing countries with people all over the world that can loan it. It takes the microfinance movement to a new scale, allowing a more personal interaction between entrepreneurs and lenders, and allowing millions of users worldwide to help towards reducing poverty and contributing to a more socialy sustainable society.

Interesting concepts from kiva:

• Peer to peer financial systems in a global scale.
• Promoting entrepreneurship, reducing poverty.
• Making it personal: linking individual entrepreneurs with individual lenders.
• Creating community: groups of lenders, local groups…

I just loaned to this group in Peru.