Thoughts - Monday, October 27, 2008 4:22 - 1 Comment

Rocking the Web beyond Blog Action Day 2008

October 15 was Blog Action Day 2008. Widely promoted by the Blog Action Day team as a 24hour event aimed at rocking the web, the day brought together the online community for a fervent pounding on keyboards everywhere with a single topic in focus: Poverty.

Bloggers, vloggers, government officials, corporations and non-profit organizations – all lent their creative juices, knowledge and resourcefulness, to address and present innovative ideas and concepts to tackle the mammoth issue that is poverty.

The final tally for BAD 2008 is staggering: 12, 800 bloggers, 14, 053 blog posts, and over 13 MILLION readers.

Days have now passed since the adrenaline rush of October 15. RSS feeds remain ablaze with must-read posts filled with enough goodies to give those in need a kick-in-the-butt out of complacency, and give further ammunition to those hungry enough to add just a little something more to their existing advocacy agenda.

But cynics of BAD abound: can a bunch of bloggers truly shake things up with a massive write-a-thon?

Point taken, cynics, but I counter it with the tireless power-punch that the online activist community packs, and its ability to raise an appropriate ruckus when marching to the call for change.

Will the act of simply reading thousands of blog posts make a dent in the issues of poverty? Likely not. While awareness is a stimulus for change, words without action are meaningless. But I’ll readily bet my Oxford thesaurus that the activist community won’t just hit the brakes at reading.

WE know that there’s too much at stake. WE know that the problem of poverty doesn’t benefit from only eloquently written essays and data-filled case studies. A concrete proposal for change needs to promptly follow, and when it does, WE as global citizens know – and care – enough to jump at the chance to splash our feet in the mud.

Passionate activists roaming the Internet know that if they’re going to shake the web, it won’t be a mere temblor, but one with aftershocks felt for a long time to come – maybe even into BAD 2009. They know that the momentum needs to be kept alive; after all, the ultimate slap in the face would be to find ourselves writing about the same topic next year.

So it all boils down to a resounding Hell Yes! WE do have the ability to prolong the shake, provided that WE don’t allow the high of BAD to wear off in the coming weeks.

And don’t be fooled into thinking that you have to make a global impact. If your motivation is to lend a hand at the local youth shelter – bravo to you. If you’re inclined to grab your passport and head overseas on a voluntary mission – kudos as well. Impact is impact, be it on a big scale or a smaller one.

After thousands of committed bloggers have raised the bar, rocking the web beyond BAD 2008 is the only option.

No self-respecting activist, or global citizen, would settle for anything less.

[Check out the Blog Action Day 2008 website for tons of tips and ideas on how YOU can keep the action going]