I'd like to teach the world to tweet: Social Good Day 2011

Already today, chances are pretty good that you’ve been on at least one social media site. Whether it was wishing your friend “Happy Birthday” on Facebook or checking in at your local lunch spot on Foursquare, social media has come to dominate our on-line lives. So think how cool it would be if, for one day, everyone used their Twitter, Facebook, or blogs to work on brainstorming ideas to solve some of the world’s most pressing social challenges and issues. That’s exactly what the folks at Mashable and (RED) asked the internet on September 21^st for the Second Annual Social Good Day.

Started in 2010, Social Good Day encourages you and your friends to get together and start conversations on how we can all use social media for a bigger purpose. Whether the problem is global, like (RED)’s work to eliminate AIDS in Africa, or an issue in your local community, Social Good Day encourages you to take the first step and start the conversation. By organizing a meetup on Mashable or using the #socialgood hashtag on Twitter, Social Good Day is all about the brainstorm: getting your ideas on how to help the cause while encouraging others to join in. This year, Social Good Day was also accompanied by the Social Good Summit, which featured speakers from both charitable causes and social media platforms. 

Social Good Day not only provides the initiative for individuals to get involved, but also showcases some great examples of how brands can become catalysts of change.  In the past year, some of the biggest public issues were sparked online, providing all sorts of inspiration:  the use of Facebook & Twitter in January’s crisis in Egypt, the use of on-line videos for the It Gets Better Project and the deeply moving (but tongue in cheek) F**k Cancer movement.  At the Social Good Summit, a few notable new campaigns stood out:

• Skype in the Classroom is a free global community that invites teachers to collaborate on classroom projects, and share skills and inspiration around specific teaching needs.
• The Million Moms Challenge focuses on crucial issues that are a priority for all mothers, including access to proper nutrition to support healthy pregnancies, trained midwives to assist in safe deliveries, and vaccines that enable children to survive to their first birthdays and beyond.
• The Nothing But Nets is a global, grassroots campaign raising awareness and funding to combat malaria, one of the largest killers of children in Africa.

At Cohn & Wolfe, we try to bring a little bit of the Social Good Day spirit into each and every day. This past year, we used our social media platforms to work with our pro bono client Project Kaisei. We used Facebook to feature a goldfish named Kai in an effort to raise awareness about the Plastic Vortex. We launched our “Twitterball” to use tweets to raise money for Project Kaisei (and create a pretty neat giant holiday ornament.)