Using Social Media for Good -- The Canadian Red Cross Twitter Team

When I first went on Twitter, I honestly didn't understand what all the excitement was about. It wasn't until I noticed that some people were using Twitter to exchange valuable information and to create positive change that I really started to get excited.

You can imagine how thrilled I was, then, to be asked to be a founding member of the Canadian Red Cross's Twitter Team. The job, which is voluntary, is simple: when a disaster arises, members of the team will help to spread accurate news about what is happening via Twitter as quickly as possible. We'll also be calling upon members of our networks to help spread the message as well. (I hope I can count on you.)

Yesterday, we had our first opportunity to help. We started letting people know that the drought in Africa is now affecting 11 million people and that donations are urgently needed to support humanitarian efforts on the ground.

The good news is that the federal government just announced that it is matching each dollar that is donated by Canadians, so your donation is instantly doubled.

You can donate by visiting this page on the Canadian Red Cross website.

Please pass this information along to your friends as well.

Note: If you happen to notice any of my Red Cross tweets on Twitter (@anndouglas or @themotherofall), I would really appreciate it if you retweeted them so that more people can find out how they can help.

Thanks so much for your support.