A Social Citizen Summer
by Kristin Ivie on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 12:28
Guest blogger Emily Garrett is a junior at Northwestern University and a summer intern with the Case Foundation.
I love summer. It’s a time to relax, unwind, and take a break from the killer pace of the rest of the year. But I realized it’s a waste to JUST spend the whole summer baking by the pool and rereading the entire Harry Potter series, when it could be a great time to give back to the community, experiment with some new social media tools, and increase my social citizen savvy. I made a list of social citizen summer to-dos and thought I’d share it with others who want to creatively use some of the summer downtime. In between watching the latest installment of Auto-Tune the News and cleaning out your Google Reader, check out one of these activities, and let us know how it goes:
- Add your John Hancock to an online petition. Go to The Petition Site or Petition Online and sign a petition or start your own. Gather the masses to make change! Add the link to your Twitter or Facebook page to raise your numbers awareness even further.
- Get out of the house (or office) and do some hands on volunteering. There are many web sites to help you find a cool project in your area. Check out the White House’s Summer of Service site, VolunteerMatch, or Idealist to find something that fits your interests and benefits your neighborhood.
- Treat yourself to a Flip video camera and start shooting videos. Find things that are politically or social interesting and post your video on YouTube to raise awareness. Or if you’re already a whiz at video storytelling? Help nonprofits out. Join Youtube’s Video Volunteers and put your skills to good use.
- You’ve donated online, but have you joined a mobile giving campaign? Consult the Mobile Giving Foundation or mGive for a list of current campaigns and how to get involved. There are tons of ongoing campaigns including Doctors Without Borders, Invisible Children, Chicago 2016, and Malaria No More. Choose your favorite, and text to give.
- Miss the days of summer reading? Grab a book to expand your social citizen knowledge. Britt Bravo has a great list of “do gooder books” to keep you busy. Social by Social is also a great book on social media and social impact, and my personal favorite, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood should get you inspired to make some changes in your community.
- You’re clicking around on YouTube anyway, so check out this video lecture by college professor Michael Wesch: An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube.
- Have a summer birthday? Donate it to your favorite cause. Go to Causes on Facebook, and tell your friends to donate to the cause instead of giving you a birthday gift. What easier way to raise money for your favorite organization then having Facebook solicit the donations for you? And besides do you really need another sweater from your mom?
- If you’re mass emailing resumes this summer, you’re not alone. Worried about finding a job in this economy and paying off your student loans or credit card debt? Join the 80 Million Strong Coalition to discuss the problems and find solutions to get the Millennial Generation fully employed.
- Are you obsessed with Twitter? Put that obsession to good use by pitching in to plan, or at least attend a Twestival local event in September to meet other Tweeters in your area and to raise money and awareness.
These are just some thoughts to get you started. For more check out Mashable’s list of 10 ways to support charity through social media. And share what you’re doing to be a social citizen this summer.
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