During my work on Social Mirror, tablet tech for social checkups, I have been inspired by other amazing Media Lab social technologies. Here are 12 of the projects which I have found most inspiring, including one or two from other universities.

Did I miss a project you love? Post your favourites in the comments. 

Social Empowerment through Networks

Can social checkups empower marginalized teenagers? In 2001, Leo Burd, now a researcher at the MIT Center for Civic Media, conducted several paper-based studies at Computer Clubhouse, with positive results. Leo is now an advisor on the Social Mirror software.

ROFLCon 3 was amazing (thanks Christina and Tim!). Liveblogging the event were Matt Stempeck, Stephen Suen, and Erhardt Graeff.

Here is a list of Civic Media blog posts from ROFLCon::

Today with Matt Stempeck and Stephen Suen, I'm liveblogging ROFLCon, a conference for things and people who are famous on the Internet. The livenote index is here.

Christina Xu, event organiser, starts off ROFLCon to cheers. It’s amazingly packed venue: “One out of eight people in this room have done something crazy on the internet.”

Jonathan Zittrain is a Internet phenomenon. Emerging from humble beginnings as a longtime Compuserve forum sysop, he is now Professor of Law at Harvard Law School where he co-founded the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Today at the Center for Civic Media, our guest is Andrew Slack of the Harry Potter Alliance, which he cofounded with Wizard Rock Band Harry and the Potters. Andrew is a transmedia activist (TEDx talk here) who helps fan communities organise for social change. Recently, Andrew helped launch the Hunger Is Not a Game campaign with Oxfam America, which recently attracted legal action by Lionsgate.

(today's blog post was written collaboratively with Becky Hurwitz and Matt Stempeck)

Over the last two days, Ethan and I took notes from the Media Lab's Spring Event: Inside/Out, while Matt Stempeck led the Google Jockey team together with Joi Ito, Shahar Ronen, Misha Sra, and Arlene Ducao. It you took photos, please add them to the #MediaLabIO pool.

The seventh and final session of #MediaLabIO was on the theme of IO: Body. Here are the livenotes, created by me and Ethan Zuckerman.

• Synthetic Organisms–Joseph Jacobson
• Being Bionic–Hugh Herr
• Fabricating Nature–Neri Oxman
• Cell Constructions–Craig Venter
• Conversation: Paola Antonelli and Craig Venter

John Hockenberry reviews our trajectory thus far - from biological communities and the lessons we might learn from them, to the intricacies of brain science. Now we find ourselves discussing life itself and the idea that life contains design principles we might learn from. To get us in the mood, Hockenberry introduces us to the idea of biomimicry by showing the front end of famous automobiles and their resemblance to his facial expressions. The Media Lab City Car, which folds to fit in small spaces, inspires him to scrunch up his face.

John announces the results of the Media Lab’s Facebook competition, asking participants to identify four mystery objects. The lab is sending Media Lab swag to the winners.