A while ago I joined Facebook as a fun way to keep up with my real life and virtual friends and as I have dug deeper into this social networking site I have discovered they have partnered with some amazing environmental and humanitarian organizations through the use of applications that can be added to a user profile. I have a few of these applications attached to my own profile and enjoy the fun of sending items back and forth, knowing that each time I do it is helping to make a real difference.
African Safari will donate a life saving net to a family in Africa for each animal sent between friends. The organization donated to is called Nothing But nets and can save a child from malaria related death through each $10 donated.
The Lil Green Patch allows flowers and fruit to be planted in a virtual garden and through the sharing of these items over 96,000,000 square feet of rainforest have already been saved.
I also have a Sea Garden which allows friends and I to share creatures back and forth to help oceanic causes such as the Surfrider Foundation; Sea Garden is the number one donor to this cause out of over 50,000 supporters.
In addition to these fantastic applications Facebook is also chock full of pages for so many wonderful organizations I already belong to such as We Can Solve It, 1Sky, Focus the Nation and Eco Etsy. The ability to keep up with the latest news and events with each of these organizations in just one place is extremely convenient.
8 comments:
Thanks for the tip. I currently don't have a Facebook or MySpace account as I always felt it would be intruding on my kid's space. Although they always shared (as our family computer was always in the kitchen) -- or used to when they were younger (now 19 and 22), I never wanted them to think I was spying on them or intruding on their space, embarassing them, etc. I never liked it when parents would comment on their kid's pages and their kid's friend's pages (usually parents who are young minded and/or trying to be cool). Just seemed a bit too intrusive to me... and I know their friends don't really like it. Now that they are grown, however, perhaps I should revisit this.
BTW, I'm not saying parents shouldn't know what's going on with their kid's and computers, just that there is a fine line between monitoring things, communicating, and being intrusive or inappropriate.
Well, that was a little off topic. Sorry about that, but again, thanks for the tip.
That's good to know. I don't currently belong to any social networking sites (besides LinkedIn), but this info is certainly a factor if I ever opt into one. Thanks!
okay, i just joined facebook because everyone i know is on there and i do not heart myspace at all. i just need to figure out how to apply this shiznit to my profile...i may need your help.
I'm not a fan of myspace but I'm on Facebook all the time.
To TheresaJ, I'm 25, both my parents are on Facebook with me, and I love it. I also live 3000 miles away from them and FB is how I keep in touch with a lot of people so it just made sense that my parents would be included in that. My mom is FB friends with a lot of my friends too, they all seem to like it. Anyway, just thought you'd like my perspective since your kids are older now.
Oh, I forgot to talk about the apps you mentioned. I had lil green patch for a long time but it started driving me insane to get 10 plants every day that I had to accept. I'd go back to it if people could just send you a plant without the notification every time. Never had the other two mainly because I was worried they might do the same thing. I get a little tired of constant notifications and usually end up deleting any app that does that. =)
I agree with Bridgete, it is fun to keep in touch with people in the virtual world my Aunt is one of my friends. My Mom was on MS as well but we both found the site much more difficult to use. I have been trying to convince her to get a FB page but so far she is resistant. Another cool thing about it is I have reconnected with friends that lost touch after graduating from High School! If you do get on there Theresa be sure to hunt me down :)
Bridgete you can update all your notifications, I only get email updates now for new friends. There is a spot on the home page that tells when you have new requests like green patch, etc but you don't have to get all those crazy emails all the time.
Go to Settings, Notifications Tab then you can pick what is on or off for what you already have
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Settings, Application settings, edit, choose never publish and I think you would be all set. I'll stop sending you requests lol!
Oh, I know, I'm not talking about emails. I'm talking about the notifications every time I pop onto Facebook. Those don't stop, and they bug me. =)
I definitely have it set up to never email me. I sign on often enough that I don't need to know by email, I'll find out when I get there.
Thanks Bridgette and Jenn. I do think, now that my kids are older, that it can be common ground.
As for the networking/staying in touch aspects, I think it is far more inclusive in terms of everybody and their mother (no pun intended) being on it. It might be great to connect with old friends too.
I did sign up, but I've yet to put a anything together at this point. I'll look you up when I do. :)
Thanks again.
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