In a post from December, I wrote about how social media has become more than just a way for people to keep in touch and network online, how social media has become a force that can change lives and accomplish objectives by leveraging the power of millions of interconnected people.
This past week has definitely been a reminder of this power, after seeing the huge outpouring of support that came after the 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Here are a few of the things I’ve seen over the past several days that really seem to exemplify this role of social media as a powerful agent:
- It seems like aid organizations have really embraced the blogging community as a strong source of support and getting the word out. How do I know this? Take a look at these pages from Doctors Without Borders and WorldVision, which are pages dedicated to the blogging community. The organizations provide the HTML code necessary for bloggers to post up ads in place of the regular contextual advertising that these blogs usually feature, or pictures that bloggers can insert into their posts. (See the top of this post for an example.) I think the widespread provision of these blogging tools demonstrates that these aid organizations now see blogging as a mainstream and important way of spreading the word.
- Twitter has once again demonstrated itself as an essential tool in this crisis, and in multiple ways. It has served not only as a way for those in Haiti to communicate with the outside world regarding their conditions but also as a means of disseminating information about how to donate to aid organizations. The mobilization that has come about as a result of tweeting is incredible. Aid organizations also seem to have realized the power of Twitter, and even provide pre-written messages for supporters to tweet.
- Mobile philanthropy, through texting or other mobile-based communication, has really proven its legitimacy in the earthquake’s aftermath. As for January 15th, for example, more than $10 million had been donated through texts in the U.S. alone, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Your $5 or $10 donation simply gets added to your phone bill at the end of the month, taking away much of the initial hurdle in giving (i.e. inputting your credit card number and info or getting your checkbook).
P.S. If you haven’t gotten around to supporting the relief efforts yet, please consider it! It’s definitely not too late!
Update: As of late Sunday, January 17th, the American Red Cross has collected about $22 MILLION in pledges from its text messaging program. The New York Times reports that the “NFL’s promotion of text-message donations during its weekend playoff games produced stunning results, with money ‘coming in at the rate of $500,000 an hour.’” Awesome!
Update 2: TechCrunch has just made a post on Haiti giving titled “Text Fundraising Comes of Age.”
