October 09, 2008
New Social-Issue Blogs Seek to Be Part Gawker, Part About.com
Change.org, a Web site started 18 months ago to connect donors with causes, has reinvented itself as a network of blogs that discuss social issues. Joshua Levy, the site’s managing editor, recruited 13 bloggers who he says combine scholarly knowledge of their field with a more-witty-than-academic writing style.
Michael Bear Kleinman, an aid worker and lawyer, kicks off his blog on humanitarian relief by discussing what the presidential candidates had to say about Darfur during Tuesday night’s debate.
He also recounts how U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon went “temporarily insane” at a U.N. meeting honoring the rapper Jay-Z. The secretary general composed his own rap song for the occasion, beginning with the line: “Global Classrooms are a cinch, with the help of Merrill Lynch. When you put the org in Google, partnerships go truly glooobal.” “Our champ” Ted Turner, “the valiant work of (RED),” and the Cisneros Foundation (“hope for Earth’s salvation”) also figured in the song.
Nathaniel Whittemore, founding director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, offers up his “Top 10 Ways to Get Involved with Social Entrepreneurship” with his blog on the topic. Among his recommendations: enter a competition (such as changemakers.net) or contact a social entrepreneur through http://www.socialedge.org.
Shannon Moriarty, a graduate student at Tufts university, introduces her blog about homelessness with a post about Genesis Home, a charity in North Carolina that keeps homeless families together under the same roof. Genocide, gay rights, and global warming are among the other topics discussed on Change.org’s blog network.
Ben Rattray, the Web site’s founder, says he hopes the revamped site will provide readers with more guidance about how they can take action on causes they care about. In addition to the blogs, the new site includes information about charities working on each of the 13 causes, as well as advocacy campaigns they are starting.
In its previous incarnation, Change.org had 115,000 members — or people who created profiles — and raised $250,000 for charities. Mr. Rattray says he hopes the new site can attract a wider audience and appeal to readers who are invested in a single cause.
Mr. Levy says that much writing on social issues is academic, and he hopes the blogs can draw readers in. He calls the new site a combination of “Gawker Media and About.com.”
Have you seen the site? What do you think?
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Thanks for the write-up, Caroline – much appreciated!
We couldn’t be more excited about the re-launch ourselves and look forward to any recommendations you or your readers might have as we move forward and continue to improve the site in the future.
Best,
Ben
— Ben Rattray Oct 10, 02:26 AM #