Fight Poverty - Blog Action Day
Today is Blog Action Day. It’s a day when “thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue - poverty. We aim to raise awareness, initiate action and to shake the web!”
As we all know, my passion is supporting causes, especially when new media is involved in the process. Poverty is one of those issues that strikes very close to home. As some of you know, I was raised in southern India, in one of the most rural and poorest areas in India. As a 10-year-old fresh from affluent America, malnourished and emaciated children, 8 people sleeping in a single room hut on dirt floors, and lines 2 hours long to get a single bucket of water once a day, was not something I was used to seeing — nor something I’ve ever gotten used to seeing.
But poverty isn’t just in developping countries. There are people, right here in our backyards, that cannot afford to buy shoes. They don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. And with winter right around the corner, many of them have no idea how they are going to heat their house (if they even have a house).
SM4SC (social media for social change) proved that the power of social media can be leveraged to bring people together to support one cause for one day. Last Friday, we raised $21,000 for Jane Doe, Inc.
So, today I ask you to come out in support of fighting poverty. Check out the Blog Action Day website (http://www.blogactionday.org/) to see what people are doing all over the world.
Or, check out what Jessica Smith is up to over at Jessica Knows: she has pledged all the money she makes from advertising on her blog today to support Project Peanut Butter (it helps malnourished children). Not only that, but Jessica is one of the fabulous ElevenMoms (a video contest put on by Walmart - for details follow the previous link), and Walmart has promised to match dollar-for-dollar all the money raised by the ElevenMoms today.
So, go to Jessica’s Site, click around on her ads and make some money for Project Peanut Butte!!
And Please. Please. Blog about Poverty. Blog about Blog Action Day. Pass the Message On. Take Action.
SM4SC - Social Media 4 Social Change
On October 10th a landmark event is going to take place. Under Gradon Tripp’s guidance, a group of us are going to see if for one night, social media-ites can come together to create change. To quote from the website, “Social Media for Social Change was born of the idea that the social media community, these “agents of change” can get together for one night, to support one cause.”
In essence it is a fundraiser. In actuality it is an experiment in humanity. We are all familiar with the traditional fundraising method — throw a party, invite an elite list of the rich and powerful, charge a lot of money per plate, and then hope checkbooks will make an appearance later in the evening. You schmooze, drink and feel better about yourself because you gave to a noble cause.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking it. Our world would be a far worse off place if it weren’t for the numerous nonprofits that work diligently to make this planet a better place. And without elite invites and fat checks, most would have never survived.
But times are changing.
Instead of depending on a few large donations, nonprofits are beginning to reach beyond boundaries of time and space to connect with people who, traditionally, would have been overlooked. Many small donations are becoming just as powerful.
This is what I love about the Internet — we have this power to connect because of technology.
We. Have. The. Power. To. Connect.
So, that is what we will be doing October 10th — connecting. We will be coming together to support a cause that is greater than ourselves. That night, we won’t just be supporting Jane Doe, a Boston-based nonprofit that supports survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence to whom all the proceeds will benefit, but we will be supporting a shift — perhaps even a shift in paradigm (one can always hope).
If you are free that evening, please join us. If you work for a company that cares, please consider becoming a sponsor.
If you want to know something deep and dark about me: this is it — it is for things like this that I live. It is because of an irrepressible sense of hope and belief that we can change, that the world and humanity is save-able and salvaegable that I get up every morning. It is because of these very things that I smile, each and every day.
An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube
My mom has recently discovered StumbleUpon Videos. She is enamored. And she likes to send me the videos too. Usually they are great, but long. I don’t know how she has the attention span for hour long videos. When she sent me “An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube” a few nights ago I was intrigued, but then I saw the time stamp: over 55 minutes. Normally I would have watched the first 2 minutes then moved on to something else. But as she was in the other room, and badgering me to watch the whole thing, I bit the bullet and did.
Wow. This video is incredible. Its about why people Tube, the community that has developed online, the changes in communication channels.. it shows messages of hope, of connection and of change. It attempts to explain the phenomena of internet stars and the self-regulating governance of people wanting real. Being in the middle of it all, I know that there is something major going on. I truly believe that there is a shift happening–a shift in how we relate, how we communicate–a shift in our humanity. One of the lines in the film that I tweeted was “youtube = freedom to experience humanity.” What do you think?
The video is of the presentation Dr. Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Digital Ethnography at Kansas State University,gave to the Library of Congress on June 23rd 2008. Dr. Wesch (@mwesch on Twitter) teaches a class at KSU called Digital Ethnography. Each semester his students and he study You Tube from an ethnographical perspective. For more information about Dr. Wesch and his class visit their site: http://mediatedcultures.net
Here are some of the comments that have been left by YouTubers:
Joshlama: Watching this video has made me learn about what Web 2.0 means in todays society.
NatureLegalized: What a wonderful and encouraging presentation. Very good length as well. Quite honestly I was having a bit of trouble finding words to express how good the experience of having this video sent to me & watching it has been. I’ve got to make a point of thanking the sender.
ninjask1: what an amazing world this is, where we can transcend space to meet with people across the globe, a world where everyone is anonymous and nobody is anonymous, a world where the user controls the machine, a world where the user is the machine. What a place this is, to have everything and nothing, where the average man is stronger than corporations and governments, a world that is both endless and boundless.
I, of course, tweeted that I was watching the video and that it was great. My sister (@peckedbyducks) then responded “mom sent that to you too? Am watching it right now.” As it turns out, my mom had sent it to everyone.. literally. She had accidentally sent the link to every single contact in her address book–a fitting ending I thought…
So, here is the video. When you have 55 minutes to spare, you should check it out.
Post-It Notes - There’s a Note for That! Epic Change Style
Post-it Notes is holding a contest for original videos that feature Post-it Notes. Judges will pick the top ten, and then it is up to YOU the viewers to vote on your favorite. The winner gets $10K!
Epic Change (I wrote about them in a previous post) created a great video with the kids at a school in Tanzania. They used the Post-Its to say thank you to the donors that have helped fund the rebuilding and expansion of their school. Check it out!
[Voting begins September 12th. I will post a link here once I know where to direct people!]
Twenty-Something Bloggers for Social Change
I care deeply about social change (obviously, otherwise why would I have started Media Awaken?!) and I also care deeply about my generation. At the most recent PodCamp Boston, Alexa Scordato and I presented on that very subject: is the millennial generation prepared to inherit the earth?
This is why I was thrilled when I read a blog post by Beth Kanter called Where are the twenty-something or GEN-Y Bloggers Who Are Writing About Social Change and Nonprofits? In this post she complies a list of twenty-something bloggers who write about social change and nonprofits. This is an incredible list! While some I had heard of, many I had not. SO, if you are interested in social change and want to hear what the millennial generation has to say about it, check out that post!
