» Archive of 'Jun, 2007'

The Social Web Helps Social Change Comments


The Social Web is a powerful vehicle for responsible social change. Thinking of the social web as MySpace and Facebook is like thinking of AOL as the Internet. Have you ever thought about how the Social Web is helping prevent family abuse across the country? How about how the Social Web is empowering activists to rebuild African societies, end poverty and provide education to remote villages around the world?

Thanks to the all mighty Social Web, in just 3 months StopFamilyViolence.com organized people from across the US who sent more than 164,000 messages and made countless phone calls to Congress to pass crucial legislation and extend funding to stop domestic violence. StopFamilyViolence benefits from the support of online communities like Netsquared.org which helps non-profit organizations and passionate activists adopt social web tools. Organizations like Kabissa.org are committed to nurturing African civil society organizations by providing them with information and communication technologies (ICTs) necessary to benefit the people they serve. Kabissa’s programs include: enabling organizations to access the power of the social web, empowering organizations to integrate the Internet into their work, and encouraging interaction between African organizations through their social network.

Cause-related social networks like MyKenyanSpace.com, NABUUR.com, and TakingITGlobal.org are nurturing communities of activists around the world by giving them access to networks of knowledge, mutual support, and financial resources on a scale that otherwise would be next to impossible. I think the day has finally come in which ONE person CAN actually make a difference.