Here's an idea

So lets say you work for a nonprofit organization or are a volunteer working with some disadvantaged population and you want to make more people aware of your cause.

What if you took your little digital camera and produced a series of short movies featuring the recipients of your services. You could conduct interviews of homeless people, you could film children at a feeding clinic for the developmentally disabled, you could film a sub-Saharan mother walking three hours for drinking water, you could interview gang members, you could video clinic workers at a drug rehab center etc, etc, etc. I think you get the point.

You then produce the video using the free software already installed on most home computers. The key is to keep the videos short, like three - four minutes max, but make a lot of them. And you need to make them interesting, not just post the raw video. Add credits and music and maybe even voice over, along with just some straight out raw footage.

Then, you release the videos, maybe one at a time, one or two days after one another, or several at once, on You Tube. Once you have published them on You Tube you email them out to everyone you know, anyone and everyone on your contact list.

The first released videos should just focus on the problem and the heartache it creates for those you are featuring, and include links where people can receive further information. Subsequent releases would focus on what you are doing and how others can help - the call to action.

Ideally you would create a blog, a MySpace page, a Facebook profile, etc. where those interested in helping out could find more information about your cause. It would include photos, all the videos, web links to resources on how they can make a difference. And remember, this isn't only about getting money. In fact, it might be just about volunteering, or protesting or an email campaign, or better yet, a video campaign.

(((On a side note, imagine the impact if you sent your Senator a DVD of 100 collected videos of people pledging themselves to making a difference in a cause and lobbying the politician for their support - pretty powerful I would think!)))

So then, you ask those you know who own MySpace pages or blogs to publish your video and send it out to all their readers. And, you even email the videos to traditional news organizations and their affiliated websites.

And voila! You now have a recipe to creating a deepened awareness of your cause. And hopefully with the deepened awareness comes an inspiration for change.

So, what is my program theory, my impact theory, why do I think using digital networking sites could lead to social awareness and change? Well, here is what I think in nice short blog form (I mean, this isn't a research paper (yet)):

1. Social marketing studies show that Gen Y's and Gen Next's are interested in creating social change - their attitudes and beliefs, even more than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, are about creating their own world - and often times their own world is much more focused on authenticity, connection, diversity and volunteerism (Yankelovich Monitor 2006).
2. Those same social marketing studies also show those same groups of individuals utilize interactive websites, including MySpace, Facebook and YouTube to learn about and share information that is important to them. And, they rely much, much less on traditional media sources for their information. I.e. TV.
3. Anecdotal evidence suggests efforsts like what I am describing lead to much of the early success of Howard Dean in the Democratic Primaries (despite his eventual downfall) and helped to bring down Senator George Allen's 2006 candidacy in Pennsylvania (remember "macaca").

So what I am saying is you have an audience interested in creating social change and online digital media communities are one of the best, most efficient modes of touching that particular group of constituents and by using the digital media you could create awareness and action for your particular cause.

Let me know if you try it! Heck, if you are interested I would consult with you on a project!