Show Me the Social Good

Photo from The Uniform Project

Last week I wrote about the “Summer of Social Good”—an ongoing theme this summer to utilize Social Media to do social good. Mashable, a social media resource, branded “Summer of Social Good” to support four particular charities: Oxfam, Livestrong, World Wildlife Fund, and Humane Society.

There are too many great examples of social media for social good for me to be able to discuss them all here but I’ve listed a few for you to check out.  Be sure to take note of the events right here in Richmond for the social good!

Social Media Club of Richmond:  Meets monthly to discuss topics of interest for social media.  This month’s topic is Social Media for Social Good.  The meeting is July 23 at 5pm. 

Strategic Leadership and Social Media for Social Good Conference:  University of Richmond’s Jepson Center will host a free event for CEO-level leadership of non profits. 

Humane Society: Offers many ways to give back through Web site and Facebook fan page, uses Twitter to spread the word.

The Uniform Project: A great little social experiment dreamed up by Sheena Matheiken to support Akanksha, a program to bring education to the children living in the slums of India. This is innovative. It gives me a reason to come back often and offers multiple avenues to contribute through items of clothing, monetary donations, and spreading the word.

Iran Election: Perhaps one of the inspiring stories of the summer is the way Twitter and other emerging media outlets are being used to bring awareness to the Iranian people and their struggle with the election held this past June. People around the world are gaining an understanding of the events and offering support. You can learn more through Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.

Change.org: Raises awareness about issues and empowers people to take action. 

Causecast: A site that is at once social, educational, entertaining, and purposeful. It allows people to learn more about causes and become involved. It offers video opportunities as well that can add additional impact.

Kiva: Empowers entrepreneurs around the world by allowing people to set up micro loans for specific individuals.

All for Good: Helps you locate volunteer opportunities in your community and share them with your friends through Facebook.

Causes: An application for Facebook that allows people to gain support through donations directly through a Facebook application. It also encourages others to share the messages and good works of their favorite causes.

Great work is being done through social media every day.  It is something that makes me happy to work in this industry and helps me to see the great potential possible with emerging media tools.