Nuf Said

Top pollsters Jaylin McClinton, Nedra Ward, and Lovely Howard

NUF SAID awarded the three youth pollsters who recruited the highest number of their peers to take the online Youth Status Surveys. The three top pollsters were Lovely Howard from Free Spirit Media, Nedra Ward from Columbia Links, and Jaylin McClinton from True Star. These three youth used social media tools to get the word out about the NUF SAID project and direct their peers to take the survey.

The top pollsters received Flip Cams that they can use to create media that bring the survey data to life. Thanks to their efforts and the efforts of the rest of the other hard working youth pollsters, over 850 youth in Chicago took part in the status survey.

NUF SAID youth analyze data collected from their peers

It’s no secret that youth are drawn to the social media technologies that have come to define their generation. It’s difficult to find a young person these days who doesn’t have at least one regularly-updated profile on any of a number of social networking sites.

But for a group of youth media makers in Chicago, using social media technologies has gone beyond the routine status update or IM session. These young artists and journalists have used the power and popularity of social networking sites to disseminate peer-to-peer surveys. The surveys, written by youth, for youth, ask young respondents to weigh in about the issues they care about most.

The project, called NUF SAID, is a program of the Chicago Youth Voices Network that engages youth from around the city through the collaborative efforts of ten Chicago-based youth media organizations. The NUF SAID crew has been working since January to create and circulate the online surveys, which have attracted over 850 respondents.

But the project doesn’t end there. The NUF SAID youth participants plan to use the data they collect from the surveys to inform their media creation this summer. As journalists and artists, they are trained to find out what their peers care about most and respond with thoughtful and compelling media. Using familiar social media technologies is just one more way for youth media makers to understand how young people are faring in their communities and then use the power of media to bring these stories to life.

Look for lots of original NUF SAID media coming this summer.

Youth pollsters from throughout Chicago have recruited over 850 of their peers to take the NUF SAID youth status survey. The survey, created by young people and distributed through online social networks, asked Chicago youth how the economic recovery is affecting them and their communities.

After 30 days of polling in April and May 2010, youth media makers are now launching the next phase of the project: creating stories that bring to life the data gathered from the surveys. The survey results and youth media will then be presented side-by-side right here on the NUF SAID blog. These insightful stories will amplify the voices of Chicago youth from every corner of the city.

Youth voice. Youth media. Youth empowerment. NUF SAID.

*From NUF SAID Youth Status Survey

Early results from the NUF SAID youth status surveys reveal that Chicago youth are very concerned about access to employment opportunities. When asked “What is the biggest problem facing you and your family?” 32% of respondents answered “Not having jobs with good wages.” Meanwhile, 21% of youth respondents reported “Crime and violence” as the biggest problem in their communities.

Youth producers in Chicago are preparing to launch their unprecedented, city-wide youth media project, NUF SAID. Starting on the afternoon of Friday, April 9th youth producers will be using their social networks to distribute peer-to-peer digital surveys. The youth-created surveys will take the pulse on how young people in Chicago are dealing with the challenges of the economic recovery.

All survey respondents will be registered to win a Flip Cam. So, youth of Chicago, get ready to take the survey and make your voice heard!

Yesterday,  TrueStar executive director DeAnna McLeary and Salome Chasnoff, BeyondMedia executive director,  briefed a crowd of 200+ high school students at the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago/McCormick Foundation High School Journalism Awards on the NUF SAID project.

The following one-page info sheet breaks down the project basics–the who, what, where and why’s of the polling and reporting. Please feel free to use this nuf_said_onesheet to spread the word about NUF SAID.

Thanks to all the participants who contributed to our NUF SAID logo contest. Here’s the winning entry:

Look out for our newly designed website, coming soon…

Jacob Colker of The Extraordinaries Inspires Chicago Youth

People spend 9 billion hours per year playing solitaire. What if they gave some of that time to support their favorite causes? This is among the questions Jacob Colker was considering when he co-founded The Extraordinaries, a social media technology company that engages people in “micro-tasks” that support organizations or causes by using a mobile phone or web browser.

Jacob Colker

Jacob was they keynote speaker for the Youth 2.0 Recovery Project on January 30^th at Columbia College, where he discussed the power and potential of social media tools to mobilize groups and create change. Through a series of case studies based largely on personal experience, Jacob described how emerging social media tools have decided elections, sparked boycotts, ruined political careers, and roused political dissent.

As an entrepreneur concerned with addressing social problems, Jacob sees a bright future for social media technologies to expose, inspire, inform, and rally groups of people around critical issues. His insights were a valuable addition to a kickoff event attended by over 50 youth from throughout Chicago, all of whom were excited about the opportunity to use social media for social good.

The next step in the process? Youth will be using some of the very social media tools Jacob presented on to poll their peers about the effects of the current economic recession. Using data collected from hundreds of their peers, youth media makers will then create multimedia work that reflects the authentic experiences of Chicago youth. In the end, youth producers will have compiled a series of snapshots that together will form vibrant collage of stories about what it’s like to be a young person living in Chicago in 2010.

‘NUF Said (Network, Unity, Future) is the new name and brand of CYVN’s Youth 2.0 Recovery Reporting Project. Beyondmedia Education youth leader Crystal Jackson won a Flip Cam for the overwhelming favored pick at the Kick Off Event on Saturday January 30th. Congratulations Crystal and thanks for capturing the spirit of our project in a terrific name!!!! Look for changes in our design soon to reflect our new branding strategy for the project.

On January 29-30, CYVN launches the kick off of the Youth 2.0 Recovery Reporting Project. Keynote speakers announced today bring Social Media experts together with Journalists and Social Researchers in order to help prepare youth to monitor how youth in Chicago are faring during the economic recovery.

JACOB COLKER

Jacob Colker is a recognized leader in political activism and issue advocacy, and a leading voice in the use of technology for community engagement. Jacob has managed political campaigns in California, Illinois, and Maryland, and he was one of the first field directors in the country to leverage Facebook® in a major political campaign to win a statewide election. Jacob has also managed issue advocacy campaigns for The International Campaign for Tibet, The 1Sky Campaign, and other non-governmental organizations, both in the U.S. and around the world.

NATALIE MOORE

ALEX MOFFAT-BATEAU