I have been collecting links and posts about Twitter for a while now, trying to undertsand the micro-blogging platform and it’s applications and implications.
Something that I thought worth posting about was the use of Twitter by Jermiah Owyang to inspire people to donate to the Red Cross to help the victims in the recent Earthquake in China
He created a photo blog post here and discussed it on his twitter feed. (Note having 7,542 followers would definitely help!)
Jeremiah’s post about it here, and Oliver Ding (Blog, Twitter) has created this slideshare presentation showing how the images and twitter inspired others to help the people of China!
I am very interested in using the social web for activism and had bookmarked a post on Wired in March about a group DASW (Direct Action to stop the War) in San Francisco using Twitter to coordinate protest activities.
Some more reading on this topic:
A post called Using Twitter for helping Communities, and another about how Twitter was used to help in the fire disaster in San Diego last year: How Geeks Can help in Disasters

Micro Space of Oliver Ding » Blog Archive » To Inspire You To Donate: Groundswell Participant for China Earthquake said
[...] Wechsler wrote: I have been collecting links and posts about Twitter for a while now, trying to undertsand the [...]
Andy said
Cheers for the links in this article.
I’m doing some research at the moment on good Twitter uses for charity / third sector / activism
Democratizing Brand » Blog Archive » To Inspire You To Donate: Groundswell Participant for China Earthquake said
[...] Wechsler wrote: I have been collecting links and posts about Twitter for a while now, trying to undertsand the [...]
Evelyn So said
Thanks for the post and all links! I definitely think there are lots SM can do for good causes. I will be attending Twestival which supports Charity: Water. It is an amazing venture with tonnes of support!
jacqueline said
Hi Evelyn,
Thanks for leaving a comment.
See you at Twestival – I am planning on going.
Jax
Evelyn So said
Jax,
I was on a Twitter Talk Panel
(http://noesium.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/panel-using-twitter-to-achieve-positive-social-changes/) yesterday at Toronto Net Tuesday #tonettue @techsoupcanada.
The other presenters are from #twestival (@sarahprevette), #hohoto (@communicable) and #techsoupcanada (@techsoupcanada). Amazing stories on how the organizers simply reached out via Twitters not only to spread the words or gain support, but to get volunteers at record time (even a few hours before the event).
If you are not connected with them already, highly recommend you do.
Hope this helps!
Evelyn (Noesium)
The Human Web Part 2 – Twitter « Jax Rant [ wonderings on the web ] said
[...] wrote a post some time ago called Twitter, Charity, Activism & the Social Web which has been getting a lot of traffic of late so I thought I would revisit some of these [...]