TIGblogs - TZARULNICOLAI

TakingITGlobal seeks motivated, creative and outgoing young people to join our team of Online Volunteers!

TakingITGlobal (tigweb.org) is an international organization - led by youth and enabled by technology. TakingITGlobal connects youth to inspiration, information and involvement in their local and global communities. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with a growing worldwide presence, the organization's flagship program is tigweb.org, the most popular online community for young people interested in connecting across cultures and making a difference, with hundreds of thousands of visitors each month. As a virtual volunteer with TakingITGlobal you will be part of a team of youth leaders and innovators who create opportunities for more than 400,000 youth around the world!

TakingITGlobal also works with global partners – from UN agencies, to NGOs, and especially youth organizations – in order to build the capacity of youth for development, support youth artistic and media expression, make education more engaging, and involve young people in global decision-making.

Our Online Volunteers are a vital part of the organization – without them the site would not remain updated with the latest opportunities for youth and youth-created content!

Duties and Responsibilities
Will vary depending on the volunteer position, but generally includes:

• Editing/Moderating content submitted to the TakingITGlobal Online Community
• Assisting TakingITGlobal members to navigate the site
• Respectfully representing TakingITGlobal
• Additional related tasks as necessary

Qualifications/Skills Required
The skills required for online volunteering can be quite different from those required for traditional volunteering – which is usually in-person and takes place during specific hours. Our volunteers are from all over the world, work in different time zones, and in different environments, and stay in contact with fellow team members and supervisors through things like e-mail, instant messaging and Skype. Virtual volunteers should be prepared to work independently and also to make the effort to stay in touch with teammates and supervisors.

• Must be a self-motivated and independent worker
• Excellent English grammar and spelling skills
• Reliable access to the internet
• Interest in social change, international issues or youth issues
• Bilingual or multilingual an plus
• An active member of TakingITGlobal’s online community is considered an asset

This is a great opportunity for you to play a role in the inspiring, informing and involving other young people around the world as you help to expand their networking possibilities. In order to apply, please have a short biography filled out on your TakingITGlobal profile and send:
- a link to your TIG profile,
-your CV or resume,
-a short paragraph about why you would like to volunteer with TakingITGlobal,
to: volunteers@takingitglobal.org

Positions Available
Global Issues Team Member – The Global Issues’ pages on tigweb.org introduce our members to the most important issues that affect us all. Topics range from Health to Media to Technology. It is imperative that these pages are kept up-to-date with the most informative resources on any given issue, as this is are our most highly-trafficked section on tigweb.org. Our Global Issues pages are often a stepping stone for our members to become engaged members of both their local and global communities.

Resource Editor – The ‘Browse Resources’ section of the TakingITGlobal site provides information and opportunities to our 400,000 + membership. Keeping this section of the site updated with exciting and relevant content is vital to TakingITGlobal’s mission of involving youth in worldwide events, opportunities and organizations.

Panorama Editor – TakingITGlobal’s Online Magazine is a place for young writers to submit both creative and non-fiction work on the issues affecting them and their communities. The Panorama Editorial team ensures that new youth-created writing is continually being showcased and helps to create exciting topics to be addressed in periodic Panorama Issues. Past Issues have included 'Dialogue on Youth Sexuality’, ‘Understanding Poverty’, and ‘Rural Youth’.

Discussion Board Moderator
Our online discussion boards facilitate cross-cultural understanding and the exchange of ideas among youth in an international context. Moderators encourage members of the TIG online community to express their perspectives and experiences in an informed, thoughtful, and constructive way. This position is a great way to stay informed about global issues and to connect with youth leaders around the world.

Contact volunteers@takingitglobal.org with your resume and cover letter if interested.

When visiting Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress, or Craigslist today, you may notice something out of the ordinary. A blackout has been staged by some of the most popular online communities in protest of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA).

SOPA and PIPA consist of a United States house bill and a senate bill aimed at curbing online piracy and copyright infringement. If passed into law, these bills will place the burden on websites to moderate and censor user content.

So what’s wrong with stopping online piracy?

An organization called Fight for the Future posted a useful video outlining the effects these bills would have on the global Internet community.

As pointed out in the video, these bills will grant the U.S. government and corporations the power to force U.S. Internet providers to block access to websites that are considered an infringement. This means that U.S. web-users would be prevented from visiting certain websites at the discretion of the government.

The impact of SOPA and PIPA would also extend beyond the U.S. to affect foreign websites and users. Blogs, social networks, search engines, and discussion forums, will become vulnerable to lawsuits, forcing them to remove links to these infringing sites and content. This means that search engines like Google will not be permitted to include blacklisted foreign sites in their search results; blacklisted foreign sites will be unable to purchase advertising on U.S. sites; foreign web-users will be limited in their interactions with U.S. sites and their ability to reach U.S. audiences.

Within the TakingITGlobal community, we strive to promote global youth engagement, discussion, and sharing—much of which takes place over the Internet. TIG is a platform that is open to all voices. However, if SOPA and PIPA are passed, sites like TIG could be forced to censor and moderate content posted by our users, or become vulnerable to lawsuits and face blacklisting on major search engines, such as Google.

There are many creative and effective ways to take action in ensuring these bills do not pass. For our American members, find out where your senator stands on the issue. If they are in favour of passing the bills, write them a letter, give them a call, tweet them (#sopa, #pipa, #sopastrike), or send them an email. For the rest of the world, take action by petitioning the U.S. state department and “censoring” your website by placing a black bar over your logo or header.

Now is the time to make your voice heard! Take part in the discussion already happening on TIG and tell members what you think about SOPA and PIPA and sign the petition. You can also stay informed about the progress of the bills by following SOPA and following PIPA online.

And as a side note for those who desperately need access to Wikipedia’s vast depths of knowledge, the folks at Wikipedia have posted directions on how to circumvent the blackout. They just wanted to make sure that their message was heard.