Charity gone Viral

We are all aware that social media is transforming the way we communicate with each other. Since the Haitian earthquake, we are witnessing how social media can effectively raise awareness about an issue. Right now Twitter is..um, atwitter with Haiti “hash tags” and with users’ urges to donate to the stricken country. Facebook too, has many links to relief organizations, as do blogs. As a result of this accessibility, donations to the Haiti cause have skyrocketed like never before.

Looking back, we can see how Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the blogosphere really led the march to raise funds for Haiti (ha! not a total waste of time after all). Social media mobilized resources even faster than celebrity-studded fundraisers. By the time Canada launched its fundraiser telethon, I had already donated to the cause. Countless other organizations, including Centennial College, had already donated to Haiti relief by the time the fundraiser was broadcast.

Such lightening speed fund-raising could never have been imagined right after 9/11. Tweets and blogs from journalists and relief workers in Haiti really captured the emotion from the ground without any filters or editing. The fact that they also did it in real time kept it urgent. Add to that impromptu clips from Haiti captured on cell phones and posted on YouTube for millions of viewers to watch. That’s the stuff that really moves people.

Social media alone is not enough to move people to do the right thing, however. You also need some kind of mechanism to attract people to donate. Fortunately, donation methods have gone digital through text message and online donation, making it easier than ever for people to contribute just with a couple of keystrokes. I myself donated through the Red Cross’ website.

There is no question that social media can give credence to an issue and position it in the forefront of peoples’ minds. That’s what it’s there for. And if it can help out a part of the world that really really needs help, then I’m happy to be plugged into it. It'll be interesting to where social media takes us next.