SMEX: Channeling Advocacy

On July 24 and 26, SMEX’s Mohamad Najem will offer an advanced workshop for activists, journalists, and civil society organizers wanting to use Twitter more effectively. In the workshop, intermediate Twitter users will learn to use Twitter strategically, paying particular attention to how they can leverage the tool to expand their networks and distribute information more effectively. Apply now (Arabic ... Read More »

This week, we’re proudly announcing the release of our new Arabic-language guide Creating Facebook Pages with Impact (Arabic): A Guide for Arab Civil Society Organizations. The 72-page guide walks NGO communications teams through nine major steps in developing a strategy for your Facebook Page, such as selecting administrators, setting goals, and using Insights to monitor your progress. The guide also ... Read More »

Social Media is cool. We all know that it’s easy and cheap so we all want to use it to advance our cause. But when asked about Social Media tools (be it blogging, facebook for activism, twitter etc.) my answer is always the same: Social Media is like having a baby, anyone can do it, but not everyone can do ... Read More »

I played Whack-A-Politician on Facebook, thumped a few Lebanese politicians with a judge’s gavel and managed to—quoting the game: “say no to useless talk and speeches of hatred and war”. The game also asks you to “Use your mouse and click to silence a politician before another citizen leaves Lebanon.” A non-political, non-religious NGO working on promoting a culture of ... Read More »

Earlier this September, Mohammed Erraji, a Moroccan blogger, was arrested following the publication of an online article criticizing the King. As soon as he was detained, Digiactive started an online “Action Alert” campaign to free Mohammed. Various international organizations such as Reporters without Borders, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and IFEX also issued statements calling for his immediate ... Read More »

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo. On October 15, 2008, we’re uniting at Rootspace (or anywhere from your blog) with the entire blogosphere and raising our voices about poverty on Blog Action Day–a worldwide initiative to post blogs about a common cause in a single day. Bloggers from around the world will write about a ... Read More »

If you’re skilled at a certain topic, you can now write your own article and share it with the world. Since there is a lack of Arabic content on the internet, Google launched a service called Knol, in Arabic. It’s a free tool that makes it easy to create, collaborate on, and publish credible web content. Basically, it lets users ... Read More »

G for Google. Google is the leading search engine with about 70% market share. The name is derived from “Googol” which means 1 followed by a 100 zeros, and it was started in a Stanford University dorm as a project to provide better Internet search results. Today, Google offers many services and tools that can be used by non-profit organizations: ... Read More »

Twitter can be the perfect tool for communicating within an NGO or a communal context.Rather than using this micro-blogging service to merely update friends on personal matters, use it to send out security alerts in case of crisis.Ask for help and collaboration, or inform them about shared events, especially when you can forward updates to added members via SMS. Much ... Read More »

Last Tuesday we had our “intro to Web 2.0 for Social Change” workshop in Baalbek, which is 85 km north east of Beirut. Baalbek is known in history as Heliopolis or City of the Sun, and it is famous for its great castle and ruins. However, like most rural areas in Lebanon, there is no reliable high-speed Internet and web ... Read More »