I remember when I was in school we used to get these stickers for Help Age which we had to sell, it was quite a task for me explaining to people what it was when I also had limited knowledge. There was no Internet where I could Google 'Help Age' and find all details. Times have changed. In this age of Twitter, Facebook, Orkut and other social networking sites, the world has become smaller and the interaction amongst people is at an all time high. The people have become so addicted to these networking sites that even the most mundane activities a person does finds its way to his status message. A person who is about to sleep puts in a status message “ZZZZZ….” Or “washing dishes….need help” are just a few examples. I always ask this question to myself if we can use these social networking sites to stay in touch with our long lost friends then we can look at a way where these sites can be used for noble causes too.
Before we start let's understand what is social media. Newspapers and TV reports are termed as media where we have only one way communication. Social media on the other hand is two-way communication like Facebook where you can post articles, photographs and people can give their views thus participating. PARTICIPATION is the key here - how we can use social media for creating awareness for various social causes.
Social Media has come across as a quick way to flag issues and a great way to disseminate information. Social workers and social work educators have been using electronic bulletin boards, e-mail and online forums to interact with one another and raise social consciousness for years. But the transition to social media, where users connect, create and share online content, has been much slower.
Young adults have been mastering these Web tools for awhile and still make up a large proportion of social media users. Interestingly this age group too forms a part of the most active class of people as far as social causes are concerned. They already know about Facebook, text messaging, iPhone apps, YouTube and so forth. So as younger people enter the social work field, there will naturally be more social workers using social media. These are the people who can spread the awareness of these causes to anyone they have been interacting with on these social networking sites.
Businesses, philanthropic groups and others are also capitalizing on social media. Some nonprofit groups, such as Charity: Water have been especially creative. The nonprofit organization, which brings clean and safe drinking water to developing nations, used Twitter last year to bring more than 200 international cities together to raise public awareness on the global water crisis. The one-day fundraiser or “Twestival” raised more than $250,000, enough to cover the cost of drilling wells to serve more than 17,000 people in Uganda, Ethiopia and India.
Globally, the Internet and social media are forcing a culture shift over how communication occurs, who participates and what information is spread. Facebook, Twitter and blogs can enable NGOs to receive more immediate feedback the causes at hand, explore others’ thoughts on these causes. With just a few mouse clicks, these NGOs can tap into the brainpower of people and experts without even meeting them.
So let us make the most of the powerful tool we have at dispense and help create a more meaningful world.
