How Twitter is Driving Action and Growing Up. 140 Characters at a Time.
onPhilanthropy has focused on twitter before (see here and here), but I want to share my thoughts on the ways I have seen twitter maturing, primarily as a network driving social change and action. Twitter has been on my mind a lot recently since we started posting from our new @onphilanthropy twitter account. The conversations I've had with some of our readers and people involved in this space have been worthwhile and fun so thank you and if you haven't already, feel free to follow us and say hi.
Personal Twitter Emergencies
Back in April when James Karl Buck (@jamesbuck) found himself in an Egyptian prison cell, his single word tweet, "ARRESTED" set a series of events in motion, ultimately leading the US Embassy to arrange his release. Chris Brogan reflected about the implications of the network's influence in bringing about such a dramatic real world result so quickly.
"What’s important about this story? Everything. Twitter has a powerful ability to move people to action, to deliver help where it’s needed, and more. If a messaging platform can free a man from prison, what else can it do for YOU?"
Just this week twitter was used to marshal the energies of its vast network to help find a missing child. User Geno Church (@genochurch) sent a message on twitter asking for information about his missing daughter McKenzie that was resent, "retweeted" in twitter-speak, in subsequent days. Thankfully she's been found and will be with her family. While it's not clear whether twitter was directly responsible for finding her, the outpouring of support that the family received is impressive.
Tweeting Action
I have seen some remarkable twitter funding appeals, most notably Beth Kanter raising $2,657 in 90 minutes at Gnomedex this spring. This impressive campaign was an exceptional instance and Beth is one of the most well connected people on twitter. I am encouraged by many of the other campaigns I see and also by the development of tools to integrate action for social change more fully into twitter.
Social Actions led by Peter Deitz is seeking to connect people with actionable opportunities for causes they identify. Through the twitterfeed platform Social Actions allows users to automatically post a daily action to their twitter feeds.
Conversation and Awareness
New modes of conversation have emerged through the 2008 Election as twitter has been increasingly used by newscasters to demonstrate public sentiment about the candidates ideas and also by users during the debates. Twitter has promoted its own expanding role in politics through its new election portal. Meanwhile, sites like Current TV, which has featured relevant tweets during live debates, and twitter's own search tool allow users to engage in conversation during debates in what many feel is a richer experience.
Another campaign worth noting is the effort to "Turn Twitter Pink" by having users add pink to their pictures in recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (@onphilanthropy is participating in this effort as well)
That's just a taste of the innovative action I've seen on twitter recently. What kinds of campaigns and twitter uses have you stumbled on lately? Better yet, share your ideas for tomorrow with us in the comments.
http://twitter.com/onPhilanthropy
photo by carrotcreatived
I'm probably not the most connected, but I've been on it since October 2006 - so I've had time to develop relationships and build a network. Nice roundup.
Posted by: Beth Kanter | October 17, 2008 at 02:31 PM