Using Social Media for Good

Over the past five years there has been an explosion of websites, apps and user-generated competitions that have leveraged the power of social networking to motivate participation in humanitarian and environmental causes. Applications such as Kiva, raising money for micro-finance, Causes, which allows anyone to create and gather support for a social cause, and various environmental challenge websites have translated interest online into more active engagement on the ground.

I co-founded a web company that built a host of applications towards this end. One was a website and facebook application called MakeMeSustainble which allows users to track their carbon footprint and actions they are taking to reduce their footprint and encourage their networks to do the same. I also worked closely with 350.org which used facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets to organize an international one-day protest to bring awareness to global warming. It ended up being one of the largest and most expansive one-day protest to date.

Although many activists are skeptical about how powerful social media can be in sustaining interest around a particular cause, I have been continuously impressed by the degree to which people can rally around a cause and use their online networks towards positive ends.