August 2, 2011No Comments

Recent Design Work – Kiva Free Trials

It's been a little over two months since I started working at Kiva. In that time I've polished a number of small elements around the site but nothing felt substantial enough to brag about. Yesterday, that changed with the launch of Kiva's invite challenge - a major portion of which was designed by yours truly. The promotion allows Kiva users to invite friends to make a free $25 loan on the site. Response to the free trials have been huge - with over 8,000 invites handed out in under 30 hours (demand was so great that Kiva doubled the initial allocation of 4,000 trials).

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November 20, 2010No Comments

Will Twitter and Facebook spark social activism?

Malcom Gladwell makes a compelling case for why new media tools will not reinvent activism and become a catalyst that shifts our social or political landscape. His comparison of The Civil Rights Movement and social networks like Twitter and Facebook is particular interesting. It’s a lengthy article but well worth the read. I lingered particular long on this passage.

The instruments of social media are well suited to making the existing social order more efficient. They are not a natural enemy of the status quo. If you are of the opinion that all the world needs is a little buffing around the edges, this should not trouble you. But if you think that there are still lunch counters out there that need integrating it ought to give you pause.

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