In a CNN interview Harvard professor & social media expert Nicco Mele says he admires supporters of WikiLeaks who are shutting down major websites like VISA. He is a leading expert in the integration of social media and Web 2.0 with politics, business and communications. Mele was born in West Africa to foreign service parents. According to his web biography, "As the webmaster for Governor Howard Dean's 2004 presidential race, Mele and the campaign team pioneered the use of technology and social media that revolutionized political fundraising and American politics." Later that year, Nicco founded EchoDitto, a leading internet strategy company that consults with Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit groups. Now an adjunct faculty at Harvard's Kennedy School, Mele teaches graduate level classes on the internet and politics. Nicco also co-founded GeniusRocket.com, a crowd-sourced creative ad agency, and ProxyDemocracy.com, an online resource for proxy voting and shareholder resolutions. Off-Camera Interview: Q. OK, let's start with a big philosophical question: do you think the internet is turning us into more informed citizens and improving the civility of our society—or is it helping segregate Americans into separate groups based on what people say they believe? A. When I look at the wide range of exciting and engaging things happening online to better engage citizens - projects like SeeClickFix and Wikipedia - I think that the internet is transforming our society for the better. But it is up to us to keep it that way, to make sure the internet continues to be an engine for civic innovation. And when you talk about a "filter bubble" (in which we never engage with people who might disagree with us) - well, that sounds like an awful lot like cable television news to me. Q. If you were judge, jury, warden, parole officer and social worker, what would you do with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange? A. Well, first I'd make sure he has plenty of internet access. In many ways, our technical culture is male-dominated. We have a situation where a leading innovator and internet freedom torch-bearer is being accused of being a sex offender. On the one hand, it's a chance to consider broader issues about holding power accountable, and the enemies that a project like Wikileaks creates. On the other hand, it's an opportunity to reflect on our mostly male technical culture - and the attitudes and values embedded in that culture, especially as they relate to women. Q. How much information are politicians and political parties collecting on individual voters and does it concern you? A. Yes, it concerns me. But it's a bit late for concern. In 1999, Scott McNealy (then CEO of Sun Microsystems) told a group of reporters, "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." If you're worried about privacy, you're about 20 years too late. Even Eric Scmidt (Google's CEO) said about a year ago, "If you have something you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it." We are living in a digital age where the nerds have already made a bunch of decisions for our society. And they made those decisions years ago. They decided we aren't going to have any privacy. And they decided we aren't going to pay for news. And they decided "information wants to be free" - thus Wikileaks. There is a new elite - the digital elite - and they're making a bunch of decisions about the institutions of our future. We're way behind in engaging in any kind of discussion about whether or not these are good decisions. http://www.nicco.org/
