social media – a changemaker’s way to communicate
// April 10th, 2009 // Comments Off // Everything Else
How many times in the past few months have you heard of people talking about, twitter, facebook, you tube, or flickr?
I feel like social media is all the rage nowadays, with everyone and their grandma signing up. As a web developer, we have companies that call us all of the time that just shout out the ‘magic’ words of ‘twitter’, ‘facebook’, or ‘blog’. My first gut reaction to hearing them ‘name-drop’ is that of excitement and said company harnessing the ever-increasing power of the internet to connect others, but oftentimes….someone or something ‘they’ read told them to do it…….because it’s free marketing….or is it? If you just sign up for twitter and make 2 updates a month, the only followers you are going to get are bound to be spammers. What is the value in that?
They don’t tell you that you have to work it, use these services regularly with quality content in order to garner a respectible audience, but as they say, “haste makes waste”. However, why would I be grilling these companies for at least trying to harness some of the wonder programs that exist now to their advantage? I should be extremely excited that they are becoming savvy and embracing these new technologies that they would have scoffed at even a few months ago. Actually, I am extremely excited!
Social media is starting to get traction, everywhere. Period. And I must say that it has me really giddy and hopeful to see how it evolves….hence this post.
Realizing the increasing ubiquity of social media, combined with ‘continuous computing’…..reaching people in profound ways is now actualized in cyberspace.
To a fault, I am somewhat an altruistic person who loves connecting, organizing, and communicating with people…and, to this end, I seek ways to make this easier through technology. I seek because I am inspired by what is NOW, currently being done!
Following are some truely amazing examples of how social media is shaping our world and helping others through education, action, and connecting.
AnomalousNYC’s Palestine Project on FLICKR -
Relevant as it is right now with Obama trying to help out with the ‘two-state‘ solution between Palestine and Israel, this photostream really invokes strong emotions about the enormity of the human rights issues being broken by showing, with some artistic enhancing, some of what is going on in the West Bank and Gaza strip.
in this example of the use of flickr, anomalousNYC uses photojournalism to invoke emotion, which definitely invokes emotion.
frontlinesms – is a revolutionary software tool that allows people to use the already ubiquitous cellphone as a platform for action. People use it all over the world. Basically, frontlineSMS is a piece of software that you install on your computer which allows you to send text (SMS) messages to cell phones. many organizations have used it for their elections, observing elections, mobilizing people. recipients of the text messages from this program can reply back as well…so you can send quizes and gather information. You should check them out!
facebook – if you haven’t heard of facebook, then you’ve been out of the loop for sure! the causes application is such a tremendous way to reach people. back when causes were still new, i created this group “Save the Sea Turtles” which now boasts more than 18 thousand members….with over a $100 in donations to the nonprofit I chose. with a click of a button, I can email all of these members and help educate people on these wondrous animals….all, with minimal effort!
kiva – microlending is changing the world! just ask mohammed yunis, a nobel laureate…who started an idea that has been the foundation of kiva.org. It’s simple. All you have to do is sign up on the site, have a debit/credit card handy…and make a minimum payment of $25 dollars and you can help lend to a host of people that are running their business. What is cool is the ‘Web 2.0′ aspect of it. If you are a person/family in need of money to help grow your business and you need, say, $1000….most people probably can’t give that amount, but with kiva….everyone contributes to the total. You get monthly reports from these people…and they pay you back! so you then can reinvest in someone else. It’s amazing!
twitter – realitime information, on demand! from your sms text phone, smart phone, iphone….computer, laptop…you and a network of individuals share information, almost as fast as chat! It’s great! What if there is a traffic accident in/near where you are going, many times…you wouldn’t know, but with twitter….if you set it up right, it’s right there. (more in a later post) 
youtube – ever see that funny video of that kid breakdancing? how about learning about environmental education? or photoshop tutorials?
It’s simply amazing….and inspiring what social media can do!
