Google’s homepage today attests to the power of revolutionary ideas and thinking, as millions around the world celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.
So it is an auspicious day to have chosen for Twestival, which sees Twitter – the micro-blogging site currently causing a stir in mainstream media and through its use in recent events such as the Hudson plane crash and Mumbai terrorist attacks – cross over into “real-life” and attempt to fuse social and charitable works; in their own words to “Tweet. Meet. Give.”
Twestival aims to raise $1 million worldwide for charity: water, who provide clean drinking water to vulnerable communities in the developing world. In an impressive feat of social organising over the web, over 175 cities from Chennai to Cape Town, St Petersburg to Shanghai and Rome to Riyadh, are taking part – and the party’s already started.
Twestival hits London at 7pm GMT, with organisers due to be interviewed live on BBC and Sky News at the launch. It is testament to the explosion of interest in social media generally – and Twitter in particular – that the platform has been able to support such an ambitious project. Charities and NGOs should also be watching with interest to observe how this medium – often rejected as an echo chamber for the banalities of modern life – can be used both for mass organisation, and fundraising that can make a lasting difference to thousands of lives.
