Can Social Media Save Our Planet?

I have become hyper aware of two important things lately: the power of grass-roots, social media, and the severity of our global energy & environmental crises. Each of these phenonema is compelling on its own, but things can get really interesting (in my opinion) if we cross the streams. I firmly believe that we can and must leverage social media to attract, engage, educate and activate our citizens and ultimately inspire our companies and our governement to develop sustainable and clean energy. In fact, I'm not sure we can fix our planet's problems without leveraging social media.

As long as I sit passively in my chair drinking in the sound bites served by big media, I will remain at rest. On the evening news I see a few individuals will being inspired. They're buying hybrids. They are recycling. They might event march on Washington from time to time. But until I see the masses - democrats and republicans and libertarians and others - Humvee and Prius drivers - each stepping out on this issue, I'm not likely to stay engaged. And as long as I and millions other Americans like me remain disengaged, and we're not likely to see sustaniable change, especially with gas prices below $2 / gallon.

And that's where social media comes in.

When we are isolated from eachother, we can feel weak, even helpless. Even when we're deeply concerned about an issue, we won't hold out much hope for a solution as long as we don't believe other people share our convictions. But social media - online communities - help us connect with others who share our concerns. Because they help us see other individuals who are stepping up, our digital platforms can offer hope that we're not alone. And once we see that MANY people feel the same way we feel, and MANY are willing to act, then maybe we will feel empowered. Maybe we will not be defeated by the complacency that comes when an individual feels defeated by a problem bigger than him or herself. Our online communities give us ways to hear and see what our friends think and say about all kinds of stuff...and when we realize we're not alone, then perhap we can be moved to sustainable action.

There is nothing divisive about the environment, is there?

It seems to me that most Americans agree that clean air and clean water are good things. Likewise, I would bet that most of us would be OK if we stopped funneling money to middle eastern terrorists through our gas tanks. Harnassed correctly, Social media will help us see that we are not alone in our concerns. We might even come to find out that many of us would be willing to sacrifice our lifestyles in order to solve this problem in our lifetimes. Once we all realize that we all want to do something about to get serious and make changes necessary to save both our planet AND our economy AND our culture.

So here I am, standing on my soap box and inviting others to join me. For the first time in my life, I have become hyper-aware of our global environmental predicament, and I want to be part of a solution. The solution will not just happen. We need a plan. We need leaders and we need access to information and people that share our passions.

So when I see initiatives like the Pickens Plan and We-Can-Solve-It, I get excited to see how they attempting to leverage social media to attract, engage and activate the citizens of the U.S.

While I applaud the spirit of these sites, I think we need to better than this.

Take a look at We Can Solve It , a site operated by Al Gore's group. For the guy who invented the Internet and practically coined the phrase "Global Warming" Al Gore seems to have a few things to learn about persuasive communication, especially online. To me, there's nothing compelling or inspiring about the way this organization is using the digital medium. The site is clean. It functions fine. And it has some of the tools it would need to fuel and viral uprising...but it has no life to it. Take a look and see if you agree.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pickens (Pickens Plan) staff has done a better job (IMO) of building up from the grass roots, but there's something missing here too. Perhaps I'm just disappointed in the lack of responsiveness... I tried to contact the staff behind this site last week, but so far the only response has been of the automated variety. I HATE it when Websites won't let you talk to real people!

My conclusion? For now, I think the best I can do is to spread the good content being created by these sites.


Beyond this, I need to take personal responsibility for my own energy consumption, and try not to lose the sense of urgency I feel right now. This problem is not going away.