OKCService - Twitterers helping the folks (please Retweet!)
During the January ice storm, Twitter served as a powerful reporting tool - crowdsourced news. What if we had used it to find people who needed help, then organized to help them? So, I'm proposing that Central Oklahoma Twitter-ers think about how we can make our own "service club." We can't save the world, so we won't try, but we can make things a little better for the Oklahoma City metro area. What do you say? I'll be organizing a tweet and greet in the next two weeks to talk about how we can make this happen. Just like Rotary or any traditional service club, this group is non-sectarian and non-ideological. Anyone can join, regardless of your political, social or religious beliefs. (or non-beliefs) All you have to do to get started (no commitment, of course!) is follow OKCService on Twitter. Also, it would be great if you would help spread the news by tweeting this blog entry. I'll be tweeting in the coming days, and I welcome your ideas. (Read background below)
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For several years, I've been thinking about joining the Rotary club. Rotary is a great service organization of businessmen and women. It also serves an important role for its members, fellowship and networking. But more important, it serves its community.
But recently I realized that I'm already a member of a really effective networking club - my ad hoc network of contacts on Twitter. (And to a lesser extent, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc..) Twitter is incredibly useful for networking, sharing ideas, and getting things done, quickly and effectively. It's especially useful for organizing groups of people with common interests. Right now almost everyone on Twitter is some flavor of technophile. In my network I find a local chef, a politician, a marketing guru, a PR professor, a couple blogging moms, a social activist firebrand, a humorist, a famous Apple alumnus, a graphic designer - and on and on.
But I believe Twitter can be used for more than personal advancement. What if we used the power of Twitter and other social networking tools to make the world a better place? Wouldn't it be cool if, in each city, Twitterers came together to do something to make their city a better place? Twitter is a magnifier of attention, a powerful organizing tool. We should use that tool for good works.
P.S. - I know OKCService is a silly name - it's just a placeholder till we can get the brilliant marketing gurus on the case.
