This is a book about the social uses of technology

Not technology for the sake of it, but how to take these trendy new tools and use them for things that really matter

We believe that the power of the internet, mobile phones, digital filmmaking and web software can be used to revitalise our communities, promote democracy, deliver public services and mobilise us for collective action.

The media has already been transformed. In 1937 it took 10 days for colour photographs of the Hindenburg disaster to reach the public. Now the Metropolitan police are being called to account by demonstrators using videos shot on their mobile phones, and mainstream journalists increasingly look to bloggers and citizen journalists to break new stories.

Marketing has also changed. Since the Cluetrain Manifesto declared “markets are conversations” in 1999, companies are getting smarter about talking ‘with’ customers rather than ‘to’ them. Sites like Dell’s Ideastorm use the internet to help customers develop products they want to buy, whilst Skittles turned their entire homepage into a Twitter search for conversations about their product. Dell claim to have made over $1million from their Twitter sales alerts alone.

Corporations are changing too: the way they work internally, and how they engage with the wider world. The BBC, IBM and General Electric are using web 2.0 tools to transform their internal knowledge management. Rate a Partner is ruffling feathers at dozens of global law firms, Ernst & Young is using Facebook to recruit the best young graduates, and broadband provider PlusNet even lets its customers to do its support work for it via its online support forums.

So the question now is, how will these technologies change our society, our charities, our public services, our democracy? The Obama campaign used social media to engage the public in spreading the word and organising local groups – but there’s much more to it than campaigning. The work of MySociety and sites like FarmSubsidy.org are showing the huge organising and mobilising powers of the internet, and Mumsnet is supporting thousands of parents simply by connecting them together. The tools become quicker and cheaper every day.: the Companies House website is still ‘closed’ between midnight and 7am, but a group of hackers at Rewired State built a new 24/7 version in one weekend. It’s not just hackers either: even the Queen herself is on YouTube these days.

It’s time for the social sector to catch up. There is a new social infrastructure being built, and we can use it to make the world better. This book explains how to do it, and what might happen if we do.