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Blogging for Social Change

By Literacy 'n' Poverty Project
Blogging can be a mysterious even to those of us who have been doing it for while. It is easy to get lost and lose sight of your goals when you started blogging with the mission of changing the world. How do I join the blogosphere and build community and inspire action? Below are a few steps to help:

Pick a topic that has Personal Significance but Social Implications

What are you passionate about and can write about regularly? Generally the things that have personally touched us are things that serve as great motivation.


The trick is to moving beyond personal experience to acquiring greater context on your topic i.e. research. Try interviewing people or writing a response to an article that relates to your topic to get your mind going.

CONNECT with others who Share Your Passion—on and off line.

Read and comment on blogs that relate to your topic. Look for meetups, local university clubs/events, and volunteer groups to find people who are committed to addressing the same issue as you are.


The more people you meet who do and do not use social media, the better as you will be forced to think of ways to bridge the two for greater social impact.

Develop Exciting Ways to Take Action

Blogging is a means, not an end. The Twestival taking place on February 12th in 160 cities across the country is a great example of using twitter to get people together to donate money and come together for an excellent cause. Blog Action Day is another great example of people writing about and motivating people to act on a pressing issue.


Join these activities or start one in your own community and share the successes and challenges on this blog.

This post was written by Allison Jones, a development and communications professional in New York City and volunteer blogger with the Literacy 'n' Poverty Project. She is a writer, advocate, and educator focusing on empowering young people to change the world. Please leave your comments or email ajlovesya [at] gmail.com.<
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