I love the internet.
There. I’ve said it.
I’m hoping I’m preaching to the relatively converted here – after all this is an online magazine.
But just to be sure – you’ll know if you’re not the converted – because your instinctive response will go something like this:
You’ll tell me our increasing reliance on online technologies is causing our previously high standards of etiquette to disintegrate, corroding our good grammar and contributing to all kinds of social maladies, from bullying to obesity, unemployment to credit card debt.
And I’ll say:
Perhaps. But for many digital natives I know, the internet is a powerful tool for creating and sustaining meaningful relationships and communities. We’re not all self obsessed, unproductive and spending our whole lives on Facebook. Online networks I know are chock-a-block full of innovative people and businesses using the digital world for social good instead of evil. And that’s just in Melbourne. Hell, I could name 5 such examples off the top of my head right now.
Proof? Scroll on, dear jaded, cynical digital neophyte.
Passionate social change advocate David Hood has managed to gather a seriously amazing group of people together thanks to the infinite possibilities of online communication. Digital channels have brought these socially minded folk together – starting with a humble Meetup Group. Since its launch late last year, the group have begun to hold monthly workshops, enabling entrepreneurial thinkers to flex their thinking muscle – working on new idea, challenging themselves with new concepts and creating proto-enterprises in mere hours.
Having quickly grown to much more than a once a month catch up, the group offer their collective skills to projects with a social mission. By combining their knowledge and resources as a group and dedicating them to specific projects they are already having serious impacts, gathering numbers and momentum.
Fellow Melbourne-based social entrepreneur Jack Francis is taking his lead from the likes of TED and establishing a local, crowd-sourced online destination for positive, inspiring videos. Think a one stop shop for inspirational mini-docos and you’re close to the mark. While the project is only in its infancy, Jack is already busy sourcing content, with the help of a network of similarly inspirational folk. Keep an eye on this one…
Multimedia producer Kealey Nutt has shifted herself from Perth to Melbourne and established herself as a one woman powerhouse – all in the space of 12 months. Kealey has used her skills to produce an online magazine that combines the best of traditional print media with a new dynamic format.
Not satisfied with the traditional content of a ladies glossy, Kealey has set to compiling though provoking content from a pool of very clever Melbourne folk – the final product of which is part creative, part environmental awareness, part ideas and inspiration sharing. She has also used the platform to hold a huge fundraiser for Queensland Flood Relief. Not bad for a gal who began to code less than 12 months ago.
Though she may be best known for bringing the social media users of Melbourne together, Kate Kendall has been incubating several new projects of late. The first to be released into the wild is The Fetch – a fortnightly email newsletter which makes good use of Kate’s ability to have her finger on the pulse across several industries.
Featuring the best of the best of events in the business, digital and creative communities, not to mention an insiders look at some of the best jobs around, and a careful curated selection of the best content online articles. Kate has taken on the role of curator of all the best bits, and removes the need for Melbourne’s online community to spend hours trawling to find it. She’s also doing a great job of keeping these flourishing professional networks together, with what seems like ease.
And finally, Tim Bull and Alex Dong are no strangers to Tech Startups, with social media monitoring tools Tribalytic and Distillr already under their belt, but their newest effort – Trunk.ly – has scored plenty of attention, featuring in the New York Times among other notable media outlets. While not strictly an online platform specifically for social good, it enables some fantastic information sharing, and is assisting some great online collaborations.
In essence, it is a bookmarking tool that removes the need to bookmark. Connecting your existing social media platforms through Trunk.ly means all links shared through these channels are automatically stored and saved so there is no need to store them manually. You can also elect to follow users, browse their links, and share them with others through Twitter. You can search through tags, find suggested users to follow. You can also elect to keep your profile private so that all your links are just a resource for yourself.
And for the bonus points – there are businesses having a good old crack at it too.
Having grown up in Bendigo, I am absolutely delighted to see Bendigo and Adelaide Banks taking community engagement to a whole new level with their initiative PlanBig. The site is a social networking site for people with big ideas, providing a platform to outline their plan, gain support and ask for advice or contributions from others in their online network. 12 months and more than 3000 members in, there are so many ‘plans’ already on the site (500+). You can look through plans in your area, show your support, keep in touch with their progress or help out with a few wise words.
The PlanBig Team are currently working on a platform to enable community groups and organisations to collaborate on a plan. With their growing community, increased capability for members to collaborate, share and pool resources, and a little bit of luck PlanBig will continue to go from strength to strength in 2011.
So there. And I told you so. Who says the internet is only for dating and lol-cats?
Don’t ask.
