Posted to the Ethnos Project by Mark Oppenneer on April 11th, 2014
Mycitizen.net is a free and open-source platform that facilitates social networking of local communities. It has been designed from the outset for the specific needs of civil society, particularly in closed societies and in countries in transition, it can be used with otherwise unsupported languages, where the Internet is very slow, and where the safety of civil society actors requires special privacy protection. The platform takes a dual approach by offering a user interface on the web and a mobile app. It is available for self-hosting.
Introduction Video
With mycitizen.net you can
- Find people with similar interests and problems
- Be stronger in a group
- Plan activities together
- Make your voice heard
- Share important information
- Exercise your rights safely
- Get connected where the Internet is slow
Mycitizen.net was designed for the particular needs of civil society in developing countries and for countries in transition.
Guiding Principles
| User-Friendliness | Even users with very low IT skills should be able to use the platform. | consistent design; intuitive operation; sufficient and clear instructions and feed back; avoid too many features and settings; avoid over-crowded screens; don’t require experience with similar platforms |
| Localization | The paltform should be ready even for rare languages. | don’t depend on restrictive server-side software (not restricted to languages of ISO 639-1) |
| Privacy | Users should control their own data. | own database; optional secure connections; optional self-hosted scripts |
| Operativeness | The platform should be operational on very slow networks. | client with low data requirements (mobile app); on slow network reduce functions gradually, rather than refusing operation |
| Autonomy | The platform should facilitate the installation on an own server. | open source license; low system requirements |
Infographic
