Formerly titled Social Media Watch, this began as a course blog for use in the Internet and Social Media for PR, an upper-level division Communication class at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. But now the time has come to explore new horizons. Enjoy.
Recent SEU Communication graduate. Navigating life in the real world. My interests include: PR, social media, networking, photography, baseball, travel, tv, film, health, and fitness.
SocialVibe, recently founded in 2007, is a new type of social media tool that is taking people and their online activity to the next level. Already with 160,000 members and counting, SocialVibe is all about giving back. The company understands the huge influence users can have online and are now giving people the opportunity to help causes that they are passionate about.
"SocialVibe is a new social media platform that facilitates interaction between people, the brands they love and the causes they care about. SocialVibe recognizes the influence people have online and has created an easy way for people to use their influence for social good. Social media advertising opportunities are plentiful, however SocialVibe's unique platform empowers communities of real people to make a real difference. With SocialVibe, people enhance their online experiences by getting sponsored by brands to support the causes they believe in."
Broken down to three simple steps, here's how it works:
Select your favorite cause to support.
Choose a sponsor & post your badge to your social profiles. (MySpace, Facebook, blogs, websites, etc.)
Earn points for donations to charity and perks.
Once you earn points they are then turned into funds for the charitable cause of their choice. Basically, users are advertising their sponsors for a good cause on their social networking sites. Some of the sponsors featured on SocialVibe include Apple, Colgate, Gibson, and Billabong. Examples of some of the causes featured are To Write Love On Her Arms, Stand Up To Cancer, World Wildlife Fund, and Invisible Children. Currently, an impressive $20,395 has been raised by 30,731 supports for TWLOHA.
I think the SocialVibe is a great concept! People can put all that time and effort they put into their MySpace pages to good use by supporting and help earning money for a cause they are really into. SocialVibe has the potential of really catching on and making a difference in the world. This is another great example of the positive effects of social media.
Would you consider joining in on SocialVibe and posting a badge in support of the cause of your choice? What do you think about this new type of social media and what they are trying to accomplish?
I was first introduced to Blog Action Day by Dr. Weisgerber in our Internet and Social Media class. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. After doing some research on the event, I found out just how big of a deal it really is. People from all over the world are uniting today to fight against poverty. We are all coming together via the Internet and our blogs to advocate against poverty.
I really like how the Blog Action Day website defines advocacy. "What is Advocacy? Advocacy is speaking up. Before change can happen, decision-makers need to know that their customers, community and constituents want change. Advocacy is letting them know." This definition really goes hand in hand with what are learning about social media in terms of PR. It is all about starting the conversation. Hopefully, after today, politicians will get the idea that poverty is still a huge issue in our lives and we want change, such an important issue that continues to plague our world.
Initiatives such as these use social media to bring people together to take a stand and make a difference. Blog Action Day has also made resources available to all that are interested in the cause. Educating those that want to help is a big part of the initiative. "What can one person do?" This is the most important question that is answered on the organization's website. People need encouragement and to know that what they do really does matter.
Below is a great video about the Micah project in Australia which gives tips on what you can do to fight poverty in your area. This is just one example of a viral video that is a large part of the fight against poverty.
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