Why I started this blog
When I first started this blog almost a year ago, I did so primarily for two reasons, and in this particular order:
1) To carve out an online space for myself where I could map out the system of leading, as well as emerging thinkers, organizations and resources that were working in the social entrepreneurship and social innovation field, i.e. working towards ‘making the world a better place.’
And from there, be able to
2) Connect with like-mind people and organizations doing inspiring work all over the world; to build a support network in order to foster deep and meaningful personal relationships; to share ideas, best practices and resources with one another.
Fast forward a year later, I feel that I have accomplished moderate success with my first personal goal. I now have a much better grasp of the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social innovation, as well a much better idea of who the ‘players’ are in this field. It is certainly true that the more you know, the more you realize there is so much you don’t know. I recognize this, and realize that there is still so much more to learn and discover and it is so exciting.
Through my professional work at SiG@Waterloo and the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, as well as having attended numerous lectures, workshops and conferences this past year, I also feel privileged to have met so many amazing people and come across so many organizations, filled with passion and ideas on how to build resilient communities and drive social change.
As for how this relates to my blog, I now realize that my approach to blogging should really be the other way around: the emphasis placed on developing and fostering these relationships on an ongoing basis, whether online through blogging, social media networks or Twitter, or more importantly, fostering these relationships in person as best as I can, in order to map out AND engage with the human system of social entrepreneurs and innovators that share similar passions in envisioning a better world. At the end of the day this is what drives social change: people.
The Turning Point
Perhaps the overwhelming sense of information overload I have had for a while now, and that I identified and blogged about in early March, had to do with the fact that I was trying to ‘keep up’ with the trends, organizations and people doing work in the social change field, instead of ‘talking to’ and ‘engaging with’ the people and organizations themselves directly. There are already numerous websites that document and profile social entrepreneurs and innovators, as well as organizations involved in the field of social change. One of my personal favorites is A Developed World, run by a team of young people with shared interests and passions, and are based in different locations around the world. Only in this day and age of social media and web 2.0 could this type of global collaboration, with the potential to reach a very wide audience, be facilitated with ease.
Lately, Ive begun to really embrace social media, namely Twitter, and its potential for building new relationships, fostering a culture of collaboration, all in order to spark change in society; whether its raising awareness by fostering or joining in on a discussion online, (my friend Ruby Ku has an excellent post on Life Without Pants as part of the “Inconvenience of Change” series for the month of May), or by organizing a group of your friends through online social networks, to volunteer in your own local community.
Most of the people I follow on Twitter are people that I do not necessarily know in person, but certainly share the same interests as I do. Through some of these connections, I am beginning to ‘meet’ and talk with people who are passionate about social change, as well as being directed to resources on leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing and emerging trends in social media to name a few; resources which I otherwise would have a hard time finding on my own, if I had to search for it myself. On the note of resources, I would recommend New Day Revolution – How to Save the World in 24 hours, the new book by Sam Davidson and Stephen Moseley, (the duo that launched CoolPeopleCare.org ) that talks about how small changes in your daily routine can make a big difference. From the New Day Revolution website:
For people who feel they have little time, this first book gives helpful hints, practical tips, and step by step instructions on how to make a big difference in the local community and the world at-large with whatever time you have. We can’t all be Jack Bauer, running down bad guys and defusing bombs – but we can all make an impact where we are with what we’ve got.
Now, instead of focusing on the specific topics of social innovation and social entrepreneurship as tools for social change, the tagline of this blog will now be Perspectives on Social Change, as this is a reflection of the direction that I want to take this blog: a forum to discuss, share and respond to ideas that people are already talking about and working on, both in the blogosphere/twitterverse, as well as in real life, around the topic of social change.
Posted via web from Renjie Butalid
