Tuesday, August 30, 2011

What the Homeless Need is Twitter?

On "The Michael Eric Dyson Show," Dyson interviews Mark Horvath about teaching homeless people how to use social media.  Horvath's YouTube introduction to tweeting away homelessness:




If it is possible to get the homeless population phones that have a foursquare app that can't be turned off, it would be easier to find them when the next Census count comes around.  Heck, they could even check their friends into places.  Heck, one day one might become the "Mayor" of Detroit.  I see the homeless chatting away on cell phones in the park all the time; whether or not these phones are functioning I just don't know.  If only there were "an app for that," think of how greater the homeless population's chances of finding permanent housing would be.

On the flip side, when the hot-dogs-and-bibles truck-and-trailer shows roll into town from the far reaches of the Detroit metropolitan area and beyond, the feel-good-about-yourself-and-then-leave groups might Tweet where the chuckwagon is going to be parked and draw the homeless out of the responsible shelters trying so hard to find housing and services for them.

Maybe the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition could look into enTwittering Detroit's homeless?


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