♪ [applause] announcer: next, internet activist and blogger ethan zuckerman talked about civic participationnd the role technology has in shaping social norms. he spoke to students at right is universally -- at rice university. this is one hour and 15 minutes. ethan: i want to tell you a little bit about where i'm coming from and how that informs some of the work that i'm doing at the moment. i teach at the m.i.t. media lab, which is one of the stranger academic institutions in the world, really the only rule behind the m.i.t. media lab is that you have to be working on inventing the future and you have to be studying something that nobody else is studying. my colleague at the top of the screen there used to be one of the top rock climbers in the world, ended up losing both of his legs below the knee in a climbing accident, and went on to become an amazing researcher in biomechanical limbs. below him is a designer, who looks for inspiration in natural patterns and builds materials and buildings and services that look like organisms. my work is not nearly this , but it is sometimes a lot more

. >>> now internet activist and blogger ethan zuckerman talks about civic participation and the role technology has in shaping social norms. he spoke to students at rice university in houston, this is an hour and 20 minutes. >>> so for the past few months now we have been looking at online mnts, digital platforms such as facebook, google maps, which our social lives have grown increasingly familiar but are also invading our academic lives. we can public widely, collaborate across time and space, teach thousands at once and so on. but it has become clear that the same machines can take advantage of us. they make us work without us knowing, judge us in directions we don't necessarily want to go, et cetera. tonight we get the chance to hear about these machines from someone who knows a great deal about them and has written a digital book about this world we live in. ethan zuckerman is director of the center for civic media at m. m.i.t. and research scientist at m.i.t. media. if i'm not mistaken ethan worked for one of the first dot-com enterprises where, among other things, he invented

bloggers. it is my pleasure to present ethan zuckerman. please join me in welcoming ethan to rice. [applause] mr. zuckerman: thank you so much. it is wonderful to be here in this beautiful state on this gorgeous campus. want to tell you about where i from and how that informs some of the work that i am doing at the moment. i teach at the m.i.t. media lab which is one of the stranger academic institutions in the world. behind the media you have to be future on inventing the and you have to be studying something that no one else is studying. my colleague at the top of the screen used to be one of the top rock climbers in the world and ended up losing both of his legs below the knee in a climbing accident and went on to become an amazing researcher in biomechanical limbs. terry oxman is as designer -- mary future and you have to be studying something that no one else is studying. my colleague at the top of the screen used to be one of the o's and surfaces that look like cells or organisms. pretty is not nearly as but in some ways it is more global and colorful. i study civic media. i'