It’s great news that the social web is getting its due in the mainstream media (although, a year or two too late, maybe?) but, unfortunately, there was little discussion of the ways that social media are being used to solve social ills.  There is a tendency of mainstream media to look at social media and see lots of the same - lots of people entertaining themselves, a lot of TV shows produced by individuals - but with the same purpose of entertaining mass audiences - that doesn’t apply.  

 

TIME’s write up was very exciting and validating for people who do the kind of work that I do but still the wonderful ways that people are using blogs, YouTube, email, cell phones to From climate change to accountability in Congress, from natural disasters to funding wells for potable water in developing countries, people are blogging, donating, organizing, mobilizing, and volunteering online and meeting up on land for worthy causes.  We are moving from serving people to solving social ills in this new age, and the only barriers to doing more are our imaginations.