For this weeks theme of social justice I read about a homeless man named Leo Grand who learned computer programming and recently launched his own app (Berkman, 2013). Patrick McConlogue offered Grand $100 or lessons in coding. Grand chose coding and spent three and a half months studying textbooks, receiving hour long lessons, and practicing coding on a used Chromebook laptop. A majority of their lessons were spent outside but they eventually moved to McConlogue’s new office of the company Noodle. The company is owned by John Katzman, Mccqnlogue’s boss who allowed him the time to work with Grand on their project.
“My boss deserves a…,” McConlogue said, trailing off before finishing the thought: “I owe him big,” (2013).
Grand’s app was successfully launched and after he was already focused on the his next idea and applying for other jobs. He was still sleeping on the streets but had a hopeful look on the future because of his new come fortune. McConlogue has decided to continue his mentoring program in the future. There have been 150 plus programmers (2013) around the world who have shown interest in his programming mentorship program. The program would be hour long lessons each day for two months, however McConlogue is still working on organizing the movement.
This is a representation of social justice through mobile media because Leo Grand was given a chance at improving his life because he learned a type of mobile communication (coding). He was able to get justice for himself not only with his newfound knowledge of communication but also wit the launching of his new app. He may still have been homeless after the fact but he did something for himself that he would never have been able to do beforehand.
A relevant technological application would be something like Yelp. Yelp gives consumers the opportunity to use their voice and it gives companies and businesses the chance to improve. Yelp also helps consumers make decisions about companies, which gives them the opportunity to improve their experience.
This connects to our class on a broader level because being able to use your voice is a new way to make a movement, in other words its a way to make a group of people interact with you in ways they normally wouldn’t. All this is done online via mobile communication.
3 Discussion questions:
- In what other ways could social media or mobile technology be used for social justice?
- Have you ever experienced social justice via mobile communication or technology?
- Do you use Yelp or sites like Yelp to make decision on your experience?
Berkman, Fran. (2013, 10 December). “Homeless ‘Journeyman Hacker’ launches eco-friendly
mobile app.” Mashable. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl
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