Save the World Through Tweeting: Maybe Not
If you don’t see a video, click here.
Two fantastic posts that pop! sparkle! liberate! the shadow side of social media which I have seen eat at my sense of enoughness and lots o my clients and beloveds.
The eating away is such a waste of time.We don’t have time for this!
Bop on over and read the BRAVE TRUE Bright Lights, Big Shadow from Bridget Pilloud and then read Tara Sophia’s helpful balm on How to Use Social Media Sanely.
Don’t skim these, read them.
Be well, do good work and know you are so amazing – trust me.
February 9th, 2011 Tags: revolution, social change, social media
14 responses so far ↓
1 Bridget Feb 9, 2011
Your Savor and Serve the world Video!
You’re right! I do that too! I tweet and say “hey, find a home for this pet” or “hey donate to this project” and I think that because I have a reach of 7700 people, I’ve done my work.
It’s so different than the act of actually doing work. My son and I saved a bunny a few weeks ago and fostered him for a weekend, and networked and found him a home with a gal who takes therapy rabbits into nursing homes. And in the process, this big bunny also became the therapeutic bunny for another bunny that has mental health issues.
When I told my son about how our friends were keeping Yubby and how Yubby was helping Lilly, Ike said, “We did that, mom. We made that happen.”
Serving the world IN REAL LIFE is sexy, and it’s mutually beneficial.
And even if it wasn’t mutually beneficial, it needs to happen. We need to get off our butts and get out there!
Thanks for the reminder!
2 Jennifer Feb 9, 2011
perfect story, thank you Bridget and thanks again for that great post that helped me say this!
3 Heather Plett Feb 9, 2011
I love this video Jen! You are such an inspiration and I can’t WAIT to see where this new vision is going to take you!
You are so right about us having to be present and active. I have a friend who works in social marketing who did his masters thesis on some of the social marketing campaigns that have had big “success” in terms of numbers of people who sign on, share it on social media, wear the t-shirt, get the wrist band, etc. His conclusion was that sometimes those campaigns actually backfire because they lull people into the complacency of THINKING they’re doing something to change the world but not actually DOING anything. Often what the people are actually doing is feeding their own egos and using the branding of the campaign to brand THEMSELVES as someone who’s socially conscious, and they’re not really doing any good for the people who the campaign was meant to help.
At the same time, I have seen some of the most amazing, humble people working quietly in the trenches to get the work done. THOSE are my heroes, not the ones with the biggest soapboxes.
4 Julie Feb 9, 2011
Jen,
Sexy service, yes.
Passivity, as I hear you speak of it, is much different than taking time to allow the seed of one’s work to germinate and emerge…something that’s been alive in me.
I hear you saying that there can be a sense that we are doing something on Social Media when we tweet, etc., and we are doing something. We are connecting, raising awareness, learning and growing, if that is our desire as we navigate the social media streams. AND, we need real life connection, giving ourselves to what is needing our very real and human touch.
In my thesis on Spirituality and the Internet (way back in 2001), I came to the conclusion that the internet will be a source of connection, of learning, of coming together with like-minded people, our tribe so-to-speak, and in these connections we will discover much we could not have discovered without it; and, that ultimately what we learn, what we find, we then have to take back into the real world, the world in which our humanness is most of service, through touch, through love, through being with, a kind of being with that can’t happen online, through very real action that changes and shifts how things are in the world.
I’m feeling alive and vibrant right now after hearing your words. I’m feeling that kind of aliveness that is the sexy part of life, the eroticism that makes cherry trees blossom.
I’m so excited about your new vision and new work, and can’t wait for you to show me something I can sense, but not yet taste.
Julie
5 Tweets that mention Save the World Through Tweeting: Maybe Not » Comfort Queen -- Topsy.com Feb 9, 2011
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Charlie Gilkey and Heather Plett, Julie Daley. Julie Daley said: a must read RT @charliegilkey No more (online) passivity, says @jenlouden: "Save the World Through Tweeting: Maybe Not" bit.ly/hOvUNq [...]
6 Jennifer Feb 9, 2011
Oh Julie, I experience your words as the truth, through my connection to you.
Heather, what you said is right on, that ego thing, you see it over and over again… how to be a force of humble good??
Brilliant, thank you!!! Bowing!
7 Tara - Scoutie Girl Feb 9, 2011
Guh-reat video, Jen!
Lately, I’ve been using the words “digital” and “analog” to describe the difference between our online worlds & our offline worlds. Mostly because I think the word “real” can’t be added across the board to what we do offline.
(lord… that’s a whole blog post in & of itself)
Social media is a digital tool that CAN serve a very real purpose, connecting us, fostering communication, furthering big ideas. And it can support REAL action too. But it’s not a substitute. And it’s not a substitute for really thinking about what’s REAL for you either.
Social media is a tool for service & engagement – not a tool for attainment. You can’t attain revolution by tweeting it – but you can serve that revolution & the people who are revolting (that doesn’t sound right…) by tweeting them instructions, supporting their work, offering assistance when possible.
Uh oh… this is morphing into a blog post. I’m going to leave it there, write some stuff down, and come back to it – thanks for getting me thinking!
8 Tara Sophia Mohr Feb 9, 2011
Jen,
Seeing this, what comes to mind for me is “coming back to our senses.” Like we all lost our minds a little bit, fell for b.s., bought into “not enough,” worshipped gurus, and now we need to get perspective and come back to our senses, the same critical thinking and intuitive filters we’ve long used offline to screen who we listen to and who we opt out of engaging with.
I’m also really struck by what you wrote about Egypt – people originally coordinated via social media, but then showed up in the streets. Right now, that physical protesting is what made them visible to media and to to their own government. In 100 years, would an “online protest” do the same? Maybe – maybe that’s where we are headed. I don’t know.
But I do know that I have a growing appreciation for what’s possible when we sit with each other, getting real energy from one another, seeing faces, etc.
And wow. I love Bridget’s post. Makes me think about how our culture of social media is also all about promoting others or staying silent. There’s not really a space for serious critique, warnings about, negative reviews of others. Would like to see that become less taboo.
Finally, I’m glad my post at PF spoke to you. I fall far short of practicing those 10 rules every day, but they are the guidelines I hold for myself.
Tara
9 Marianne Feb 9, 2011
I loooooove the passion in this video and I’m so excited about Savour and Serve. Sexy service? Count me in!
Here’s how I think about it: There are different levels of engagement in social change whether we are using digital or analog tools.
Passing on a petition is one level of engagement.
Signing the petition yourself is another level – whether online or on paper outside the local union office.
Making time to write to your elected representative is another level.
Spreading the word about a protest is one level.
Showing up at the protest is another.
Changing what we buy and where we buy it from – whether online or offline – is another level of engagement.
Having conversations about those choices is another.
Educating yourself about the systems and structures that maintain and support injustice and conflict is one level.
Getting involved in systemic change at a global, national or local level is another.
Doing the hard, deep work of examining how we ourselves benefit from and help to perpetuate the system is another level.
Making further changes to how we live based on that examination is another level.
Sitting in a room with a small group of people who are ready to engage in change for your community is another level. Making the space and time to work with those people in your community week after week is another.
I don’t think the major difference lies in whether we are using digital or analog tools. I think the difference lies in the level of engagement that we choose though I agree that some levels of engagement demand face to face contact. And I agree that the ease with which certain digital tools allow us to engage at the simplest level can give us a distorted idea of how engaged we really are.
10 Laura Scholes Feb 9, 2011
Jen,
Just had to say thanks for the final line of your post.
In all the loudness of “I’ll help you be better, do more, etc.!!!!” out in the blog-o-whatever, it’s so comforting to hear “know you are so amazing—trust me.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
11 Ronna Feb 9, 2011
Beautiful, strong, and tender Jen. Thanks for being you, for speaking your mind – from your heart, and for calling all of us be world-changers.
Stunning. And yes, sexy!
12 How to change the world. Ten (not so) easy steps. | sophia leadership Feb 11, 2011
[...] Sometimes talking makes us complacent and we forget to act. Get out there and ACT. Listen to the wisdom of Jen Louden for your [...]
13 Hiro Boga Feb 11, 2011
Jen, I love the power and passion of your voice and your message in this video. Thank you for this call.
The world we live in–the world we want to bequeath to our children and their children and all the children of the world–will be made by us. One thought, one word, one action, one courageous, creative step at a time.
Love, Hiro
14 How to change the world. Ten (not so) easy steps. | My LA Blog Feb 11, 2011
[...] Sometimes talking makes us complacent and we forget to act. Get out there and ACT. Listen to the wisdom of Jen Louden for your [...]