I have noticed a trend lately in the social media space. Well there are several trends right now in the space.
Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable pointed out the top 5 for Twitter. Such things as:
-Real Time Search Engines
-Verified Accounts
-Sponsored Tweets
-Well you can just read Jennifer’s great post…
One trend I see picking up is what I am going to call “Social Media For Good”. Now before you say, “Dave using Social Media to do good things has been around for every.” True, but with all these different social networking sites and instant communication tools, things are changing.
Let me share with you a few different sort of ways people are using these tools to do good things. By good I don’t mean “helping me get 16,000 friends in 90 days on Twitter”. Nor will I ask you to join a Facebook Cause. I will share this with you in list form. People like lists:
Drew, who I have known for several years was diagnosed with cancer in May and.. , instead of me explaining I will post what he wrote on the page:
“Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer. Ever since that day, Drew has blamed everything on his cancer. Losing his keys, misplacing his wallet, Twitter being slow, the Phillies losing, etc. Why? Because you have to beat up on Cancer to win… and you can help out. Blame Drew’s Cancer for anything you want by tweeting with the hashtag #BlameDrewsCancer and it’ll come here. We’ll keep a tally and when Drew beats Cancer, our sponsors will donate a dollar for every participant to the American Cancer Society and the Make a Wish Foundation.”
Sophie Azouaou is “the interior designer who gives back” as well as the 7X7′s Community Impact contributor where she gives tips on giving back that “put your mind and your wallet at east”. She is what Change Starts At Home calls a “Change Maker”. Currently she is working on “Touching Hearts” a TV show that will look at philanthropy and The Real Stories for NBC Bay Area. They have just started a donation campaign to help their show get off the ground and make a difference. It will air right after Monday Night Football in the fall. If you want to get involved or donate, which gets you a credit on the show, contact Sophie direct or go the the Touching Hearts site. Her goal is to use all aspects of Social Media to get the show off the ground!
The Twestival. In February 2009 about 200+ cities around the world held these events. All with one cause, to help let people know about Charity:Water. When all was said and done they raised about $250,000. The key here is that thanks to Twitter it from a local event, to a global event. Come on, that’s pretty cool…
In January of this year David Armano asked people to help a woman and her children who wanted to get out of a domestic abuse situation. He simply reached out and asked people to donate. No big party. No big event. Just do what you can. Well that request raised almost $17,000 for Daniella’s Apartment Fund!
So there you are people using the Internet, social networking and sites for good. To do good things.
I like it!
