Causecast

by MAEGAN CARBERRY, Contributing Writer

With a recent surge in press coverage pushing Twitter toward its tipping point, veteran tweeters and perplexed observers are curiously navigating the social network’s unique platform. You’ve surely heard about @THE_REAL_SHAQ’s spontaneous Twitter antics where he gives hoops tickets to the first followers who can touch him on a mysterious street corner or @johncmayer’s breakup with Jennifer Aniston, allegedly the result of a Twitter addiction, but the platform has much more depth than the headlines surrounding it reveal. In fact, reaching far beyond the subjectively mundane minutia of a Facebook update, in the year since I began using the service Twitter has become my favorite tool for conscious living and civic engagement.

If you’re still confused about how it works, check out Michael Hyatt’s post. It covers the basics thoroughly.

As an activist and advocate for progressive causes, I do my best to stay informed, seek out diverse opinions and participate in online and offline initiatives. Twitter has proven to be a hub where all of these things are possible. Most of my favorite news outlets and individual reporters have a feed, so in one capacity it serves as an RSS reader. Beyond that, it’s a networking opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals interested in furthering the causes you care about. One of the most exciting aspects is that this often naturally results in bipartisan collaboration because people rally around the issues they are passionate about as opposed to clinging to their party’s platform. It’s a whole new way to organize that makes me starry-eyed with hope that one day activism truly could be post-partisan.

Once you get past the initial learning curve, Twitter can literally work at lightning speed on behalf of your cause. Speaking with my colleague Jon Pincus, who has helped organized some of the most successful online campaigns in recent political memory, including last month’s Ask The President effort to give real people the chance to ask questions at Barack Obama’s second press conference and the Get FISA Right movement during the presidential campaign, we concurred that the tool is revolutionary. Jon, who is a strategist, writer and activist from Seattle, currently working on “Tales from the Net,” a book on social networks, recommends that groups looking to raise awareness should use Twitter to conduct their meetings in public, using hashtags to draw in new participants. The site TweetLeft came about as the result of such a Twitter meeting, or Tweet-Up, in which participants expressed the need for a place to aggregate their efforts.

“It’s really good for getting the word about something out in a hurry,” he said, noting also that because it’s accessible by mobile, Twitter accommodates people who are often marginalized from participation because they don’t have computer access. “You can pass a very specific link on to what people need to do. You’ll be broadcasting to your friends, and also reaching interested people who aren’t there in person. A few people on site with smart phones can open things up to the rest of the world.”

I strongly recommend keeping up with Jon’s blog, Liminal States, for a better understanding of how to maximize Twitter and hashtag management for your cause.  He is very active in #p2 and #topprog, hashtags dedicated to progressive tweets and specifically those related to diversity and equal rights.

In my own feed, I’ve come to appreciate some of the following groups detailed below. Along with my endorsement, I’ve included a descriptor from their Twitter bios. I encourage checking out their accounts for good examples of how to use your Twitter presence to change the world.

@ActiveCause – This New York-Based group provides news about trends in philanthropy and offers the largest directory of nonprofit and corporate cause data.
@Everywun – This San Francisco-based grassroots campaign enables everyone to take free, easy and fun actions to support causes they care about.
@AskThePresident – This joint effort by The Nation, The Washington Times and the Personal Democracy Forum solicits questions from the general public to be featured alongside those of veteran reporters in DC’s elite.
@Jason_Pollock – My friend and Causecast leader Jason Pollock produced and directed an amazing movie called “The Youngest Candidate.” Jason has taken an individual approach to promoting his film, using a personal account to amass a huge following of supporters.
@ChangeTracker – ChangeTracker watches pages on whitehouse.gov, recovery.gov and financialstability.gov and updates you when the government has made changes to the sites.
@changetheweb – This is a great contest that encourages developers to build web apps and widgets that help people make a difference.
@ShiftYourHabit – From Elizabeth Rogers, author of “The Green Book,” ShiftYourHabit shows people how small shifts in their daily behavior can lead to big change for their wallet, their schedule and their world.
@knightfdn – The Knight Foundation funds transformational journalism and community ideas.
@KAsPower – Knowledge As Power teaches citizens how to track the legislative process effectively.
@takepart – From socially-conscious film company Participant Media, this soon-to-be-relaunched network encourages people to participate in their communities.
@WhyTuesday – This fabulous nonprofit is dedicated to increasing voter turnout and participation in elections.
@92Y – The  New York-Based 92nd Street Y is an arts, educational and community center serving people of all ages, races, faiths and backgrounds.
@EQCA and @EqualRoots – Equality California and EqualRoots advocate equal marriage and civil rights for gay Americans.
@rebuildtheparty – As stated, I’m a progressive, but I’ve met dozens of patriotic and civically-engaged conservatives on Twitter. Rebuild the Party is an effort to create a more technology-savvy Republican Party based on moderate core conservative principles. Led by rightroots geniuses @PatrickRuffini and @MindyFinn, I’ve learned a lot about how the “other side” operates and feel more open to collaboration as a result. I’ve also met conservatives @MediaLizzy, @ericjodom, @jonhenke, @stephenkruiser and @JenciTN Through this platform, all of whom I’ve come to respect and hope to work with in the future. They also use the hashtags #tcot, #dontgo #rebuild.
And, of course, don’t forget @causecast, a great source for cause-based news and opinion.

Image by carrotcreative, flickr

Maegan Carberry blogs about politics, media and technology at www.maegancarberry.com, and is the co-host of Variety.com’s “Wilshire & Washington” on Blog Talk Radio.