Real name registration went into effect last week in many Chinese cities. Tricia Wang and I have penned a new op-ed for Wired that looks at why this is such a big deal: In a move to exert greater control on citizen speech online, the government is requiring that Sina Weibo and China’s other microblogs [...]
I was recently honored with an invitation to join the advisory board for Prix Ars Electronica 2012, focusing on the Digital Communities section. Prix Ars Electronica, part of the larger Ars Electronica umbrella, is the prestigious award ceremony for new media based in Linz, Austria. Here’s what their Digital Communities section looks at: The “Digital [...]
Ethan Zuckerman just published an interesting post about the importance of studying Sina Weibo, the popular microblogging tool in China. He references WeiboScope, a very useful and informative tool put out by the University of Hong Kong to help visualize the popular trending topics on Sina Weibo, one of China’s leading microblog services (there are [...]
Artists and avatars. I’m always very conscious about the way I use my avatar, the message it sends to the world. Some call it branding, some call it self-expression, some call it communication. But my avatar represents me in some fashion. Kyle Chayka in LA Weekly wrote a thought-provoking essay about artists and their online [...]
There’s a very nice piece out in this past Sunday’s New York Times about the Arts, Culture and Technology Meetup (aka ArtsTech). Here’s what writer Jennifer Preston had to say: Unlike some people who never step outside of their online Twitter streams, members of this group use the micro-blogging service to help them follow each [...]
Two social media-related events these past few weeks in Beijing. I’ve spoken about social media art and done social media art in a few countries now, but China always presents the most potent site for exploration. I gave a talk at the Maker’s Carnival, a festival of making in partnership with UNESCO, Qinghua University, Shanghai [...]
It’s difficult to underestimate the importance of the mingpian (名片), or business card, in Asian culture. Literally, “mingpian” means “name card”, and people carry different cards for different needs. It’s not necessarily about business: with a stack of 500 cards going for less than 20 USD, it’s an expected investment. In Japan and Korea, it’s [...]
Had a lovely discussion this weekend at Xindanwei to discuss “The Future is Co-”, a look at the future of coworking, collaboration and collective creativity. I wrote recently abotu Xindanwei’s coworking model in Hyperallergic, and in a way, the panel was a way to continue that dialogue. What added to the event was that Tony [...]
Great afternoon helping kick off co[LAB] Manila’s new Spark Series, a series of talks and workshops designed to inspire Manila’s creative and entrepreneurial community. A bit of a homecoming for me, as I’ve not lived in Manila since I was a wee one, and I must say it was quite lovely. The space itself is [...]
Thinking a bit about collaborative consumption, coworking spaces, collective access. I grew up in a small apartment in Silverlake, Los Angeles, but when we had family over, we had family over. Grandparents, aunts, uncles–we all piled into the room with trundle beds and couches. When we needed a plumber, we called Uncle So-and-So who recommended [...]
hello!
my name is
an xiao mina
i am a
design strategist
researcher
artist
i build communities
and empower individuals
through technology
i also blog at
my tumblr (links, notes)
88 bar (china)
core77 (design)
hyperallergic (art)
i publish at
design observer
design altruism
tags/topics
what's new
art
china
city life
culture
design
food
health
history
internet
language
mobile
social
social media art
sustainability
transportation
you might also like
/design
brendan mcgetrick
david sherwin
design china
emily chang
evert ypma
jan chipchase
matthew manos
nick seaver
pico cool
tina roth eisenberg
ultra
zara arshad
/art
ai weiwei
brent burket
carolina miranda
cojo
hrag vartanian
james wagner
kianga ellis
kyle chayka
museum nerd
rebecca taylor
/tech+culture
clive thompson
danah boyd
emily nussbaum
erik hersman
ethan zuckerman
evan osnos
gillian reagan
global voices
howard s. friedman
jenna wortham
joanne mcneil
julia kaganskiy
maria popova
nicholas carr
tricia wang
thomas crampton
tom standage
archives
Except where noted,
the images and text
on this site are
licensed under a
Creative Commons
Attribution-
NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License.
