Social networking for the greater good

I bet this is going to be a trend: the social networks getting smart and combating all the bad p.r. they've gotten by doing something really positive as well as putting out fires on the negative side. MySpace "is trying to galvanize its [now 90 million+] user base to get involved in public service," the Washington Post reports. "It is doing so by sponsoring a contest, which begins today [7/5], requesting submissions of 15- to 30-second video public-service announcements encouraging social activism. The winner will be featured in Seventeen magazine, which is co-sponsoring the contest." Entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges from both MySpace and Seventeen, and the winners will be announced the week August 21, the Post adds. It cites a recent survey by Teenage Research Unlimited in Illinois showing that "63% of teens said they care about others and want to make the world a better place … but only 25% were involved in a volunteer activity." And here's an example from Reuters of game designers with a similar goal.