I’ve run across many conversations over the past year about ‘why use social media’, insert a network. Obvious reasons come to mind (promotion, narcissism, recognition, connection, utility) and hey there’s nothing wrong with them I play into all of them to some degree. As I search for deeper reasons I find the most interesting in people helping people. And I would put companies helping people – their customers – in this category on a surface level. The best of this is expressed through use of social media “for good” and there is a real life example of this that you can participate in or observe going on right now.
It involves a woman with three children (one with a disability) who has fled an abusive situation and a weblebrity, David Armano, using his extensive network to help them out. The fundraising goal was $5k and the magic of social networking has resulted in raising at this moment over $11k in hours, yes hours less than 24 hours. The initial Twitter post indicates 12 hours but I can’t be sure how accurate this is. Here’s how you can participate.
Spread the word through your network. Blog it. Twit it use hashtag #daniela. Email it. Follow the Logic+Emotion blog or David on Twitter @armano.
Silently send a kind thought or prayer.
Offer a word of encouragement this is a really brave move for a woman and takes a lot of strength. Hats off to you Daniela I bet you have no idea what a strong and amazing woman you are at this very moment. Thank you for allowing David to tell your story publicly it will help another woman.
A few more notes:
-He is using PayPal, I’ve used it for transactions and commerce and it’s an excellent tool.
-And ChipIn this is the first time I’ve seen this widget, it is integrated with PayPal. Very cool.
-Another notable people in the socialverse (I love it that I can just make words up in this space) using technology for the good is @nateritter and @tillyritter they are finding ways to use social networks and technology to provide information portals for disasters and crisis for the good of communities (ex: San Diego Fires). Nate’s blog. I met Nate at a social media networking event and as each person in the room described why they were there and what they wanted to get out of the meetings (typical answer was how to monetize social media) his answer was to learn how to use social media for the good.
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