Blog Carnival: Ecuador: Internet, Society and Participation  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Global Voices in Spanish is interested in encouraging blogging and promoting blogger networks, and a good way to achieve this is though Blog Carnivals. Let's look at the details of our third Carnival:
Scope: Ecuador
As a host and geographic scope for our third Blog Carnival we have chosen Ecuador, a country perhaps not very well known in the Latin American blogosphere but which posses a thriving community of bloggers and new media enthusiasts who we are sure will support us in spreading the news about this virtual event.  Quito and Guayaquil are the biggest cities in Ecuador, but we hope to see bloggers from cities like Loja, Machala, Santo Domingo, Ambato, and Manta among others. We clarify that participation is not restricted to bloggers or blogs that are dedicated exclusively to the topic indicated in the following paragraph, any blogger can blog and participate.
Topic: Ecuador: Internet, society and participation.
One of the most important aspects of blogs is their capacity to generate conversation and debate, but many times this exchange of ideas remains inside the web. So it is pertinent to ask: Are we generating public opinion? Do blogs and digital media influence traditional media who are the ones that usually manage public opinion? Is the debate generated on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. productive? Can the Internet in Ecuador serve as a way to articulate successful actions in the physical world (protests, cultural activities, etc)? What examples of this have occurred in Ecuador? What steps can be taken so that communication through the Internet can be more fluid and decisive between citizens, businesses and politicians? How do you participate on the Internet?
Participation:
Any Ecuadorian blogger living in the country or not can participate by publishing a post on the topic in their own blog. Foreigners living in Ecuador can also participate. The post has to be an original post, in other words, created by the blogger, not copied from another source, and published during the period set for participation in the Carnival. The structure, style and length of the post can be decided by the blogger.
Bloggers can pick how to focus on the topic. It can be through one of the suggested questions or from a focus that the blogger considers convenient. When bloggers have published their post for the Carnival, they must email  juan.arellano at globalvoicesonline dot org with the following information:
Name of the author
Name of the blog
Title of the post
Corresponding link or URL for the post.
A button is available, the image in this post, for bloggers to use and paste on their blogs as a signal that they are participating in the Carnival. Once the button is added to a blog, the blogger must reference this post.
At the end of the period of participation we will proceed to arrange and summarize the participating post in order to publish a summary post for Global Voices. Depending on the amount of participation we will be able to quote posts or not, this is mainly due to reasons of space. Any questions may be directed to the email mentioned above.
Chronology:
- Call, invitation and dissemination. Through this post and during the duration of the period for participation.
– Period for participation. From September 13 to 22.
– Selection period and the creation of a summary with the participating posts. From September 23 to 27.
– Summary post published on Global Voices in Spanish. September 28.
Note: This is not a competition, therefore there will be no winners or losers. It is about looking for contributions, collaborations and testimonies on the proposed topic, in order to develop a broad, varied and updated picture on the topic of society and participation through the Internet, in Ecuador.
We look forward to your support, collaboration and participation!