Let’s start at the beginning: What is Social Actions and where does the API come in?

I describe Social Actions as an aggregation of actions people can take on any issue that’s built to be highly distributable across the social web. We pull in donation opportunities, volunteer positions, petitions, event, and other actions from 60+ different sources. That’s today. A few years ago, we had just a handful of pioneering platforms in microphilanthropy.

The Social Actions project began in 2006. I wanted to make some kind of contribution to the world of microphilanthropy. My intent was to inventory every interesting action I came across to make it easier for people to engage in the causes they cared about. There wasn’t much scalability in the way I was pursuing the project.

In 2007, I realized that a much more effective way to aggregate interesting actions would be to subscribe to RSS feeds from trusted sources. I wrote about the potential for aggregating RSS feeds of giving opportunities in a blog post called, Why We Need Group Fundraising RSS Feeds. Three months later I had a prototype platform aggregating actions from RSS feeds, with a search element around that content.

Around  the time of the Nonprofit Technology Network’s 2008 NTC conference, an even brighter light bulb went on. I remember sitting in a session by Kurt Voelker of ForumOne Communications, Tompkins Spann of Convio, and Jeremy Carbaugh of The Sunlight Foundation. They were talking about API’s. (API stands for Application Programming Interface, and refers broadly to the way one piece of software or dataset communicates with another.) In fact, the name of the session was “APIs for Beginners.”

I knew I wanted to be in the session even without really knowing why. It was there that I realized my RSS-based process for aggregating actions could be so much more with a robust distribution component. I wrote a blog post called, Mashups, Open APIs, and the Future of Collaboration in the Nonprofit Tech Sector. I left that session knowing exactly the direction I wanted to take Social Actions.

And what would you describe as the social definition of Social Actions API – the purpose?

There’s a groundswell in interest, on the part of “non-nonprofit professionals,” to engage with social movements and causes. It’s well-documented at this point that people are hungry to engage with causes they care about in various forms.

The premise behind Social Actions is that there are enough actions floating around on the web that nonprofits produce, but that they’re not linked up properly or adequately syndicated. There are a million opportunities to take action on a cause you care about, but it’s not easy to find them. The Social Actions API attempts to address the distribution and syndication challenge while also encouraging nonprofits to make their actions more readily available.

What were the limitations that Social Actions and its API were hitting up against before the recent updates?

We have encountered a number of challenges over the years. Originally, adding actions manually. was difficult. That challenge was resolved by creating a platform that used RSS feeds to pull in opportunities,  which in turn evolved into the Social Actions API, allowing people to access the full dataset from any application that connected to it.

The vast majority of applications that have been built since 2008 match actions with related content: for example, by reading a blog post and searching the Social Actions dataset for related actions. The quality of the search results were limited by our querying capabilities and relevancy ranking. The results we were able to produce didn’t reflect the full contents of our database. They tended to reflect only the most recently-added actions, not the most relevant. As a result, we weren’t equipping developers with a platform that allowed for more accurate location- and issue-based searches. Until the recent enhancements, producing the best possible search results for a given phrase or keyword was a biggest challenge.

What did the recent updates accomplish, and how did the opportunity to make them come about?

The updates introduce Semantic Analysis and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities to the Social Actions API and begin to connect Social Actions to the wider Linked Open Data community.

The enhancements effectively put Social Actions back on the cutting edge of social technology. These were changes that we had wanted to make for a long time. In Spring 2009, we were approached by a group that was building an advanced video + action platform and that wanted to draw on the Social Actions API. Link TV, in prototyping their ViewChange platform, noticed that the Social Actions API wasn’t producing the best possible results. They invited us to explore with them what would be involved in updating our platform so that ViewChange could feature more relevant results.

Link TV, along with Doug Puchanski and Rob DiCiuccio of Definition, helped us articulate the changes that would need to occur and then connected us with a funder who could underwrite what amounted to a very significant enhancement to our code base. In one month, we had approximately as large an investment in the technology as we’d had in total up until that point. It has been incredibly exciting to see how open source projects like Social Actions tend to grow in fits and bursts, depending on the demands and resources made available by users.

What do “Semantic Analysis” and “Natural Language Processing” mean, and how do they make the Social Actions API better?

Semantic Analysis and Natural Language Processing both have to do with the process of identifying the meaning of a collection of words together. Semantic analysis, for example, can help to identify the meaning of a phrase like “poverty relief” as distinct from what “poverty” and “relief” mean independently. The Social Actions API now uses a tool called Zemanta to apply these processes when searching the actions contained in the dataset. As a result, we can say with more confidence what an action is about and where it is taking place. When searching for the phrase “poverty relief,” for example, not only are the search results more accurate, but Zemanta helps us to identify other actions that might not in fact use that phrase but are nonetheless linked in meaning to it. It’s a difficult concept to explain, but hopefully this makes sense.

And what does “Linked Open Data” refer to?

Just like in 2008 when I had an “aha moment” about APIs, in June 2009 I had an “aha moment” about Linked Open Data. I was presenting Social Actions at the Semantic Technology Conference (SemTech), describing how Social Actions was an open database and how we encouraged developers to build open source applications that distributed this data widely. Ivan Herman from W3C listened to the presentation asked, “Why are you building something that’s so closed? Why aren’t you publishing this data in RDF?”

I was surprised to the say least. Defeated in fact. I had spent close to three years trying to build this open platform only to have someone more tech-savvy than me explain that what we had built was in fact still a closed platform. It turns out I was at the epicenter of the Linked Open Data community.  Their mission is to link the world’s knowledge in the same way that all of the world’s web pages have been linked to one another.

If you can imagine that today the web is a collection of links between pages, the web of tomorrow (proposed by these folks and Tim Berners-Lee) will be a collection of links between discreet knowledge, or datasets. Anyone will be able to follow the connection that’s been made between one repository of data and another the same way people can now hyperlink between one web page and another.

Linked Open Data essentially refers to building connections between these repositories in a standard format not unlike HTML and hypertext.

What role do API’s, and the people who build them, play in Linked Open Data?

The stewards of databases are no longer just asked to open up their datasets but to make them available in such a way that they link with other data repositories by design. In the case of Social Actions, Ivan from the Wc3 was effectively saying, “It’s great you have all of this data on actions people can take, but what are you doing to link that data with other datasets? What are you doing to help people make the connection between ‘poverty relief’ as an issue, for example, and existing data sets on the prevalence of poverty in a specific location?”

The Social Actions API now cross-references issues and locations with universal identifiers that have been assigned to them. Just like you might cross-reference the subject of a book with a Dewey Decimal number, we are now cross-referencing each action with a universal identifier that helps to link it to related data. Using Zemanta, we are able to provide URIs (Uniform Resource Identifier) from Freebase and DBPedia that make the connection between actions in our system and other material on the web that relates to the same topic.

You can see examples of this at http://search.socialactions.com. Search for any phrase. Below each result you’ll see a link to “Entities.”

Can you tell me more about what ViewChange has done?

ViewChange is an example of an application that queries our actions using Freebase and DBPedia URIs as well as traditional keywords and phrases. The application says to Social Actions, “Show me everything that matches this URI.” The same query is submitted to the Social Actions API as is submitted to any data repository – news articles, videos, blog posts, etc. It’s truly commendable that Link TV, through the ViewChange project, has driven these enhancements on our platform.

A lot is also owed to Doug Puchalski, a programmer with Definition who helped lead the development of ViewChange.

To you, what might the future look like for people who want to take action on the causes they care about?

The technology exists for us to do really amazing things when it comes to matching people with actions they can take to make a difference. The technology itself is advancing, opening up more possibilities for even smarter applications.

The future of social technology, specifically creative implementations of the Social Actions API and similar open source platforms, is very exciting provided nonprofits and foundations continue to make rich data available and link it up with other repositories in the way I’ve attempted to described. The future is also very bright if we continue to experiment with how these linked data repositories can be deployed for forms of community engagement that we would not have thought possible a few years ago.

If everything goes incredibly well in the coming years, what might emerge is ubiquitous infrastructure of enabling technology and complementary applications that continuously present individuals with meaningful and relevant opportunities to enact change.

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The Social Actions API – a pioneering open source project since 2008 – continues its boundary-pushing agenda by embracing the semantic web and contributing to the Linked Open Data cloud, encouraging the sector as a whole to leverage open source software and linked data for greater impact.

Visit socialactions.com today to learn more!

Social Actions Transition: Request for Letters of Interest

A short six weeks ago, Peter Deitz shared our intention to find a well-resourced and mission-aligned organization, or group of organizations, to assume ownership of Social Actions’ programs. Since then, we’ve received a number of inquiries and have had several one-on-one meetings with organizations that have an interest in carrying Social Actions forward.

We’re also seeing a range of creative proposals — for example Paul Lamb’s suggestions including stewardship by open source foundations or social entrepreneur funders, and a NetSquared-type transition campaign. See the comment thread here and add your thoughts!

As a next step in this process, we’re requesting formal Letters of Interest from those who have an interest in stewarding all or some of Social Actions’ programs. We’re posting that request here not just as an update but to encourage everyone to share it and chime in with ideas and proposals.

Get the rest of the details here.

Opportunity Alert: Four Powerful Enhancements to the Social Actions API

Social Actions has a fantastic opportunity to make four powerful enhancements to the Social Actions API in the coming weeks:

• Add the capacity for semantic analysis and weighted querying: Integrate the Zemanta API analysis, or something similar, into the Social Actions API and then fully support semantically extracted issue- and location-based querying in the Social Actions API. This feature would allow for weighted lists of topics and keywords or an emphasis parameter when external API queries are made.
  
• Provide support for knowing when actions are no longer active: Currently, the Social Actions API assigns an automated expiration date. Additional enhancements could involve supporting an expiration field in the live feed from partners and/or determining if an action has expired based on the content on the destination page.
  
• Integrate with other APIs and/or advanced feeds: The ability to make direct calls to open APIs and/or advanced feeds (provided they are available) to expand the number of data-points included in the aggregation.
  
• Add a minimum of three (hopefully more!) new sources that are specifically focused on global development-related causes.

Learn more and support this work!

Join the Conversation

Details:

• Date: Tuesday, March 10th
• Time: 11 am – 12 pm PST
• RSVP: be sure to RSVP to receive the link to the chat before the event

Featured Guests:
Ben Rigby & Jacob Colker, TheExtraordinaries
Rich Grote & Dave Angulo, iVolunteer

Moderator: Amy Sample Ward, NetSquared

The community will be invited to ask questions, share examples & ideas, and in general rock the discussion.  This session is inspired by Britt Bravo’s great post iPhone Apps for Nonprofits.

“iPhones for Good” is part of the Change the Web Conversation Series, a series of open chats that explore specific technology platforms for good, running concurrent with the Change the Web Challenge.

In conjunction with the Change the Web Challenge, Social Actions has put together a Conversation Series to get you thinking and talking about how might want to change the web.  Today’s chat is How Can Mozilla Empower Movements & Nonprofits.

Details:

• Time: 11 am – 12 pm PST
• Where: You can access the chat room here
• What: How Can Mozilla Empower Movements & Nonprofits
• Who: You can see who is attending in the Facebook Event or the Social Actions Event page

Featured Guests:

• Zak Greant , Mozilla Foundation
• Suneel Gupta, Mozilla Corporation
• Elijah van der Giessen, David Suzuki Foundation
• Moderator: Joe Solomon

If you can’t make it to the online chat today, don’t worry! There are plenty more coming up: Check out the Social Actions Change the Web Conversation Series to see them all (upcoming and archived).

The Change the Web Challenge from Social Actions is now officially open! Change the Web Challenge is about building innovative tools to help people find and share opportunities to take action on the Web sites, blogs, and social networks that we all visit every day. “We want you to dream up a new tool to help people find and share actions. Any Web enabled device can become a place to connect with actions: your iPhone, news sites and blogs, Facebook & other social networks, or even in your own Web site!”

Learn more about the Challenge & participate!

How Change the Web Challenge Works

Social Actions is facilitating this challenge to encourage innovations for distributing opportunities to make a difference across the Internet and mobile devices. Through a NetSquared Community vote, 20 finalists will be chosen.  A panel of judges, selected by Social Actions will choose three winners from among the 20 finalists, to be announced at NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference, April 28, 2009. Winners will receive cash awards of $5,000 (first place), $3,000 (second place), and $2,000 (third place).

Individuals and organizations are invited to share their projects with the community through the NetSquared submission form. To be eligible for prizes, all submissions must 1) be fully functional by the time voting begins, 2) include an open-source license, and 3) make use of Social Actions API.

How To Participate

Submissions period begins on February 23, 2009, at 11 am PST, and runs through April 3, 2009, at 3 pm PST.  Get your submissions in now!

Four Easy Steps to Participate:

• Register and/or Login
• Click on Username
• Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
• Select “ChangetheWeb” from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

Learn more about Social Actions’ Change the Web Challenge here.