Golda Velez and Cooperation.org

     Cooperation.org, created by Golda Velez and inspired by her colleagues, is a tool for online collaboration and social object creation as a response to the recent presidential election. Golda and her colleagues thought it was an appropriate time to create a site in which people can connect in an effort to mobilize those looking for their voices to be heard, political or otherwise. This site is meant to bring people together to take action for the causes they are passionate about, or otherwise bring people together for communal action.

     One framework Golda used in her discussion today was the idea of feedback and accountability. The basis of this framework is that people do more meaningful work when they do it for others' approval. For example, I am more accountable when I have a specific goal set out to me by my supervisor at work , because I know that I am expected to finish any one task by the end of the day. Individuals are, in general, more productive if they are held accountable by a person counting on them specifically. In this case, many forums on the site are holding members to small tasks in order to further their attempted social change.

     I am excited to use this space for the "hack-a-thon" class periods, as this website seems like a great tool for online collaboration and other social connections made around passionate individuals. I particularly liked the idea of the "Teaspoon Space", where members are encouraged to do a small, concrete act toward a cause they are passionate about every day. Global Citizen outlines a more complete overview of this idea here, in the article entitled Changing the World one Teaspoon at a Time. This site is particularly encouraging for those that feel they can't truly make a difference without a social backing, whether it be trough friendships or other popular social objects.

     This is not a site to make public social objects. This is a site for social and technical coordination, for mobilized individuals to get feedback and ideas for their emerging social movements. Cooperation.org is not optimized for social media like connections, yet is still going to be a valuable source to further examine how others in an area are able to work toward social changes, no matter how small.