Attention doubters and disparagers: social media has proven it is far more than just a great way to waste time.
It can, for instance, raise $2 million dollars for earthquake relief in Haiti in 24 hours.
Thanks to thousands of status updates on facebook and Twitter — and I’m sure a mention by President Obama didn’t hurt, either — mGive was able to collect the monies via text message in a campaign organized by the State Department and the Red Cross.
Anyone with a cell phone is able to text the word “HAITI” to 90999 and $10 is donated to the Red Cross. The donation appears on your monthly cellphone bill.
I’m sure concerts will be planned, and organizations and celebrities will step forward with large donations to help in the cause. But this grassroots effort was made possible — and fast and simple — by the technologies that we sometimes love to hate.
So the next time you are in the movie theatre and some yo-yo starts texting in the dark…
Or you realize you spent the entire morning playing on facebook or Twitter instead of doing real work….
Remember Haiti.
