It's Definitely OK to Use Social Networking to Help Your Cause
The two most straightforward ways remain the same for every type of disaster. They need donations of either your time or your money. I chose money, but only a little bit and then felt bad about my donation and its usefulness or lack thereof after reading an article on Gawker criticizing the “netiquette” of using social media to promote your cause.
Basically, the writer claims that doing anything on your blog, your Twitter, your Facebook, or whatever other social media you happen to use is a meaningless empty gesture that does absolutely nothing to promote the cause. I strongly disagree. He gave the example of turning your Avatars green during the last year’s Iranian protests as a sign of support as a meaningless gesture, but forgot to mention how most Twitterers changed their location to reflect Iran so that Iranians in Iran could mask their tweets in order to hide their locations from the authorities.
He then went on to criticize last week’s “What color is your bra?” awareness campaign on Facebook. Agreed, that probably wasn’t the most effective method to explain breast examinations or to raise funds for breast cancer research, but it was absolutely free and probably reached more people more quickly than a public media campaign.
In my mind, the writer went too far when he mocked those who announced they had made contributions to Haiti. Times are hard for all of us, and those of us who are taking the time to donate a little to help the people who really need it deserve the right to feel a little proud. As one of my Facebook friends said, her donation probably is not going to help the residents all that much now, but will help buy some rebar so the buildings don’t all fall down in the future. Additionally, when I read my friend’s status report about her donation, it spurred me on to donate myself, which is something that I hope my friends will do after reading my status report.
And, if some dude who who happens to write for Gawker doesn’t like it, he can go “F” himself.
Comments
Becksta, I absolutely love
Becksta, I absolutely love this post. Thank you for raising this point. I've been complained about and even mocked before because I use my social networks to promote causes all of the time--I pretty much only use them for that and promoting my writing, as I first started using them in the first place when I worked for a nonprofit a few years ago and it was part of my job--and it really irritates me.
Are these people saying that their "I'm going to my friend's house to play Xbox" or "I'm sooo bored" are much better than my "Sign this petition" or "Donate with your cell phone" statuses? Please. I've even had one friend refer to me in his status update with something about protesting too much--he later claimed it was from Hamlet though that wasn't even in the context--and I had to marvel at the irony of him using update space on my updates that irritated him! It's pretty silly.
And the funniest thing is that people can block your FB statuses if they want to and still be friends with you, write on your wall, etc. Why not do that instead of complain?
And how, by the way, is changing your icon or color any different from wearing a solidarity pin or bracelet or putting a bumper sticker or magnet on your car? Raising awareness, getting donations, and fixing the world can be done in thousands of ways, I say, and using social networks is just one of them. And it's a good one, I think, considering that most of the responses I get are positive follow-ups to taking action--and that the nonprofits I've worked for or consulted with claim that most of their action comes from their social networks.
So keep it up, I say! Thanks again for posting this. :)
Right on SaraJean. I just
Right on SaraJean. I just read your old post today about the same thing and admire your convictions- keep up the good fight!