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Bio

livingroom_100x113.jpgIn 2006, I founded ZapBoom Consulting,  which specializes in the analysis of how digital tools like cell phones and the Internet can be used in social change campaigns in developing countries.  I have researched and written reports on topics ranging from online citizen journalism to blog advocacy and internet censorship.  I have also performed in-country Internet monitoring and international conference organizing. 

You can contact me at MaryCJoyce AT gmail DOT com.

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Client Buzz

Feedback from Zapboom Clients:

"Mary's passion and energy for digital activism is obvious in every action and initiative she makes."...read more

"Right away she cut to the core of our needs."...read more

"She deserves much of the credit for organizing a tremendously successful event."...read more

"She was able to turn a potentially complex technical task into something that brought all the different viewpoints together and channelled everyone's energy in a collaborative manner."...read more

Digital Activism Projects

Current CV

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Posts about "china" in other sites

Inside Out: How Tibet Showed the Cracks in the Great Firewall of China

Posted by Mary on 21/03/2008 at 21:14

Last week, as protest rocked Tibet, the news was not only of the protests themselves but also of the role of the Internet in bringing news of those protests to a global audience. However, it was unclear whether the overall Internet story was hopeful or pessimistic. Did the Tibet case show critical weaknesses in the ability of China to control the Internet or was it just another story of oppression and censorship?

On one hand, the protests demonstrated the capacity of native and expatriate Tibetans, as well as foreign tourists, to use the Internet to get news of the protest

(Read more)

Tibetans Use the Internet to Get the News Out

Posted by Mary on 17/03/2008 at 13:25

Last week hundreds of Tibetan monks took to the streets in and near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to protest Chinese rule. Although the heavily censored Chinese media refused to cover the story, both Tibetans and foreign tourists used the Internet to get the news out.


cell phone image of protests published on the site of a Tibetan rights NGO based in India

According to the Vancouver Sun, “Amateur cellphone photos and video clips showing what were described as confrontations between police and Tibetans protesting Chinese rule poured onto websites big and small, including those for major news media,

(Read more)

The Internet That Was

Posted by Mary on 21/08/2007 at 15:11

Why do people want to be "on the Internet?" One of the main reasons is simple freedom. The Internet is a rare example of a true, modern, functional anarchy. There is no "Internet Inc." There are no official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders.

Today that paragraph, written in 1993, seems naive and ill-informed. There certainly are censors on the Internet. Look at China and Saudi Arabia. While there is no "Internet Inc." the Internet is most certainly a commercial entity with its associated "bosses," "boards of directors" and "stockholders." I am not just talking about the

(Read more)

Activism with your Friends

Posted by Mary on 30/07/2007 at 5:44

facebookprofilecrop.jpg why Facebook makes the activist in me smile


For the lofty academic goals of pure research I have recently been joining online social networks, specifically Facebook, Change.org, Care2, and LinkedIn. The only one I became attached to was Facebook and actually, I am embarrassed to say, I visit the site every day.

My affinity for Facebook is a bit of a surpise to me. My original reason for signing up for these networks was because I am interested in the possiblity of online communities for activism. I'd really like to see people using online social networks

(Read more)

Chinese Activists in Xiamen Organize Online

Posted by Mary on 06/07/2007 at 11:55

A man (center) wears a gas mask to protest a proposed toxic chemical plant in Xiamen

 

Despite the fact that China has the most elaborate system of internet censorship in the world, creative Chinese activists are still finding ways to use the medium for political activism.

On June 1, one million residents of coastal Xiamen protested against the proposed construction of a toxic chemical plant near the city center. Cell phones and the internet made it possible. The Chinese blogger collective Bullog used the internet and SMS to promote the event.

Because the state-controlled media refused to broadcast details of

(Read more)

Indian Whistle-Blower Protected by the Web

Posted by Mary on 06/07/2007 at 11:36

J. N. Jayashree created a website to detail her husband's whistle-blowing


It's an old rule of thumb on the internet that if you are a dissident you should maintain your anonymity on the internet. The logic is simple: if the government doesn't know who you are, they won't be able to harass you - or worse. However, one Indian woman is showing that the opposite can also be true: she made a website about her whistle-blower husband, M. N. Vijayakumar, to protect him. Said J. N. Jayashree, creator of fightcorruption.wikidot.com, "I wanted to inform the people that this is

(Read more)

Chinese and Egyptian internet activists unite

Posted by Mary on 25/06/2007 at 16:30

 

In 2003, four young Chinese men were handed out prison sentences due to their participation in the online forum New Youth Study Group, which discussed ways in which China might advance and prosper. They were charged with subverting state power and given sentences of between 8 and 10 years. Friends of these young men started the New Youth 4 group to try to get their friends out of prison.

 

 

Across the world, something was happening that New Youth 4 coordinator thought could have a direct effect on what he was doing in China. In February 2007, the Egyptian blogger Kareem

(Read more)

Quote of the Week

"If you think you can influence the agenda, you walk through the world with different eyes and different ears."

-Yochai Benkler

What is Digital Activism?

Digital activism means grassroots activists using digital technologies like cell phones and the internet to increase their impact, thus subverting traditional power hierarchies and changing the world.

The Blog Advocacy Guide

        

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