I logged in expecting to see a few tweets about the tragic earthquake and was immediately taken aback that #HelpHaiti and #TextYele and #Port-Au-Prince and #RedCross are all trending topics. This, this, is where the power of social media really shines through. My heart was warmed to see the support that Yele Haiti, Wyclef Jean's Haitian Relief Organization, is receiving. Mamalaw has long been a supporter of Wyclef and this great organization and we keep the Yele button on our blog to spread the word to all of our visitors. His plea for everyone to donate $5 by simply sending a text is being re-tweeted like wildfire.
The country of Haiti is near and dear to our hearts. Justice Jonesie's family comes from Haiti and she still has several family members that live there. In fact, she just returned from visiting Haiti for the holidays less than 2 weeks ago. My mother volunteers with Project Medishare for Haiti and frequently makes trip to the island to help the poorest of people. I often hang up the phone after our conversations in tears after listening to her describe the sad scenes and unthinkable conditions that she'd witnessed. In short, Haiti is special to us.
And how amazing to see that Haiti is important to the Twitter community too. Our very own Blogalicious supporter @LuvvieIG has rallied her blogging community to generate support for Haiti by challenging everyone to place the Yele Haiti banner on their blogs and to donate both money and clothing to Haitians in need.
Blogalicious Weekend will be donating $.25 to the people of Haiti for each Twitter follower that we have. The mobilization and charitable support for Haiti on Twitter and the blogs today is amazing. And really embodies the essence of social media: Community.
We encourage our community to spread the word about the various ways to donate and to keep the earthquake victims in their thoughts and hearts.
A word to the wise: Don't take your social media influence lightly. With a quick re-tweet on Twitter, a short status update on Facebook or a meaningful post on your blog, you can make a difference in the lives of people hundreds of thousands of miles away. That's the real beauty of social media.
I agree! Even though I've been screaming that Facebook is the evil Spawn of the devil for the past year, it is times like this that I really do appreciate the positive power of social media.
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