Social media for positive change. It’s a common phrase here at Under Solen HQ, and it’s the basis for everything that we do. But we’re not the only ones that see the value that new media has when it comes to making change on a large scale.
This week, the United Nations announced that to increase its efforts in combating malaria, it’s launching a Social Media Envoy. Yes, the latest tools being used by the UN Special Envoy for Malaria are Facebook and Twitter.
For those that think of Facebook as merely a storage site for last weekend’s party photos, and Twitter as place to update what salsa you put on your burrito for lunch, think again. These channels have become such a part of a larger, global media interchange that even the world’s largest International Organization is harnessing their power.
Over the next 12 months, the Social Media Envoy will be responsible for posting on Facebook or sending out a tweet in support of malaria control at least once a month. So who makes up this envoy? Some big names:
- Derrick Ashong, Musician, Social Activist & Oprah Radio host; www.twitter.com/ashong
- Veronica Belmont, Host of “Tekzilla” and “Qore” and Internet Personality; www.twitter.com/Veronica
- Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey; www.twitter.com/CoryBooker
- Sarah Brown, of the United Kingdom; www.twitter.com/SarahBrown10
- Pete Cashmore, CEO and founder of “Mashable—the Social Media Guide”; www.twitter.com/mashable
- Anderson Cooper, CNN Anchor of “Anderson Cooper 360”; www.twitter.com/andersoncooper
- Dennis Crowley, Co-founder of Foursquare; www.twitter.com/DENS
- Anil Dash, Director of Expert Labs and Partner at Activate; www.twitter.com/anildash
- Justine Ezarik “iJustine”, Internet Personality; www.twitter.com/iJustine
- Jack Gray, CNN Producer/Writer for “Anderson Cooper 360”; www.twitter.com/JackGrayCNN
- Arianna Huffington, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post; www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
- Guy Kawasaki, Co-founder of Alltop.com; www.twitter.com/GuyKawasaki
- Larry King, CNN Host of “Larry King Live”; www.twitter.com/kingsthings
- Loic Le Meur, Founder and CEO of Seesmic; www.twitter.com/Loic
- Alyssa Milano, Actress; www.twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano
- Dave Morin, Former Facebook executive- responsible for Facebook Connect and Platform; www.twitter.com/davemorin
- Jeff Pulver, Founder of 140 Characters Conference (#140conf) and Co-founder of VoIP (Vonage); www.twitter.com/jeffpulver
- Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg; www.twitter.com/kevinrose
- Chris Sacca, Founder of Lowercase Capital; www.twitter.com/sacca
- Ryan Seacrest, Founder, Ryan Seacrest Productions; www.twitter.com/RyanSeacrest
- Biz Stone, Co-founder of Twitter; www.twitter.com/biz
- Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Cisco; www.twitter.com/padmasree
- Jon Wheatley, Co-founder of DailyBooth.com; www.dailybooth.com/jon
- Randi Zuckerberg, Director of Marketing, Facebook; www.facebook.com/Randi
Will social media become an everyday tool for getting the world organized on global issues? We’ll have to wait on the answer to that question, but saying that there is power in social media to create positive change certainly isn’t an overstatement.
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