Top five social networks for the greater good
Yesterday, Treehugger alerted us to the newest ethical social network, Razoo. These are online havens specifically for those who wish to do good in the world, be it through encouraging greener lives, raising awareness and money for charity or simply "promote social good".
This last quote came from the mission statement of Razoo. This is a network devoted to making a difference by starting discussions about everything from sustainability and water to AIDS and homlessness, through human rights and education. And that's just a fraction of the topics. By promoting discussion and swapping tips and ideas, the entrepreneurs behind Razoo hope to inspire ideas that just might save the world (or, rather, us). And it's certainly not the only sight with lofty ideals. Just take a look at the many different ways in which social networks are encouraging us to fight the good environmental fight...
Actics is a social network for businesses that's all about social conscience. The prominent front page tag cloud is all about environment, respect and responsibility. They do take themselves very seriously, but no-one can deny that striving for "timeless, responsible and transparent" actions that have a positive effect on our lives and environment is a laudable aim.
Zelixy approaches social responsibility from a different angle. A more YouTube-style network with an emphasis on video content, it bills itself as "The Green Social Network" and encourages changing yourself first, then others, then the world. There is a community aspect, a user-generated content angle and even an education section. The site is "philanthropically driven" and money raised by entries is donated to the charity of your choice.
dotherightthing.com takes responsibility to where it feels it should be - with big companies and corporations who need a social conscience. By consistently rating their performance and asking questions, it hopes to enable and encourage a dialogue between the corporations and their consumers, leading to more responsible production and informed consumerism. Taglined "people changing business" it pushes us to engage proactively in our buying decisions and demand more accountability from big business.
Tree-nation's mission statement is summed up in its tagline: "1 Planet - 1 Heart - 8 Million Trees" (that's just over one for every person in London). As a community it enables members to pay for the planting of a sapling starting at 10 euros (about £7). Then you can check out the location of your tree by GPS and discuss ways to get others involved.
Obviously this is just a very small look at what is a burgeoning area of the Internet, but if you did want to feel a little proud of yourself in your lunch hour (or just show off your moral superiority, which is fine by me as long as you're actually doing something helpful), do check them out.
great article!!! Good to see so many different sites make the 3.0 all about us and ours instead of "MY"space and "You"tube... hippyshopper, we are starting a list of green blogs that we would like to include you in... is that cool? Want to share your site with our users.... and anybody else who would like to collaborate on anything for the greater good... let the revolution commence!
Posted by: ZELIXY | November 2, 2007 7:00 PM