Panel – Beyond the Poke: The Social Impact of Social Networking

[Originally posted @thesunrising.com on October 26, 2007]
I’m speaking on a panel tomorrow (Saturday) about how social causes can leverage social networking platforms (last week I spoke about the future of social networking — as if anyone knows). Premal was supposed to speak but now he can’t make it, so I’m speaking in his stead (sweet, huh?). Anyways, the organizer asked for a short blog post on the organization’s blog, which I figured I’d re-post here since I’m all about leverage.
Hey folks. Just wanted to write a quick post to encourage everyone attending >play this weekend to try and make the “Beyond the Poke” panel. No, it’s not about how to ask for a real date after poking someone (which is a weird thing to do, btw), but about “The Social Impact of Social Networking”. The panel description asks: “Does Web 2.0 provide the necessary platform for…causes to continue to develop and grow well into the future?”. Well, having spent time as a Product Manager at MySpace (a social-networking site still popular outside of the Valley), as Director of Marketing for Kiva.org (Bill Clinton’s favorite non-profit*), and as an advisor to / team member of a few other causes, I can tell you the answer is [omitted…sorry, you’ll have to attend the panel to find out]. In all seriousness, social networks are a powerful platform for causes to organize, involve and empower; beyond awareness lies action, and it’s my personal belief that social causes that can effectively leverage the social graph stand to accelerate their mission of changing the world (for the better!). See you tomorrow.
(*Okay, it’s probably not his favorite non-profit, but he’s definitely a big fan)

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