Social networks: Powerful change agents?

A young person with a heartfelt idea and access to 100 million people on a social-networking site can help change the world now. Bich Ngoc Cao was an employee of MySpace, and it was because of her that the site (now with more than 100 million people and 3 million bands registered) launched its Rock for Darfur campaign this week, the Washington Post reports. Rock for Darfur, whose logo was designed by Cao's younger brother, an art major, aims to raise money and awareness for the situation in western Sudan, where "more than 400,000 are dead so far, and more than 2 million Sudanese have been displaced by the Arab Janjaweed militia in what the United Nations has called an ethnic cleansing campaign against black Africans." Bich Ngoc Cao had been interested in the crisis in Sudan, took a class on the history of genocide at the University of Southern California, and then last spring "traveled from her home in Los Angeles to Washington for the rallies on the Mall," according to the Washington Post. "When she returned home, she approached her employer to figure out if they could do something for the cause." Who knows what might happen in Sudan if other social sites join in, then join up with other activists pushing for an end to the genocide? Social activism on social networks is blossoming. Other projects include YouthNoise.com, a social network that's entirely about social consciousness and activism and was founded by Save the Children, and a new one: Stand Against Violence. It's a campaign of ROCK SAFE, the safety awareness and social activism arm of MyCityRocks.com, which is a network of city-based, arts-focused social sites that got its start as HoustonRocks.com. Performing bands and musicians are a big part of the Stand Against Violence campaign's local rallies. This is a trend to watch, people: social networks as agents for change and humanitarianism.