Celebrating the power of blogging, with October’s Blog Action Day
What have water and blogging got to do with each other? Nothing? Think again. Each year in October, a group of blogging enthusiasts lead a program of blog revolution, with the annual ‘Blog Action Day’. The initiative has been developed to enable people to use the power of blogging online to make a real difference to the world, choosing a topic to write about which will raise awareness and make people sit up and take notice of critical issues which we may be able to do something about online.
Blogging is a powerful vehicle for expressing ideas, raising awareness of social trends and bringing people together in a strong network to voice opinions and facilitate change. The people behind Blog Acton Day, which is held on October 15, have realized this, and seek to bring people together to achieve change through the humble art of blogging.
Blog Action Day is a chance for bloggers from around the world to get together and discuss an important issue, with the goal of raising awareness and getting people to take action. The 2008 edition had over 20,000 participant blogs, achieving over 14 million RSS readers, combined. This shows the power of our blogs when we unite for a common cause, to make a real difference.
This year’s theme is all about water – how we use it, who needs more, how to save it and how to get everyone on the planet access to clean, safe drinking water. According to the Blog Action site, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us who are subject to preventable disease and even death because of something that many of us take for granted.
Not having access to clean water affects much more than just humanity. It affects the environment, our animal kingdom, and ideas around sustainability.
Blog Action Day organizers are encouraging people to get involved with the initiative, citing a number of ways which we can help and support the cause. You can join in by:
- Writing about the Blog Action Day event before October 15, to spread the word about it.
- Joining Blog Action Day and writing a post about water related issues on October 15.
- Displaying badges about the event on your blog.
- Promoting the event or participant blogs on social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook).
You can register your site with the organizers here to get involved and add your voice to the movement.
By all of us working together to support a clean, safe environment across the globe, we may be able to prompt enough discussion through our blogs to make a real difference. What have you got to lose?
Take some time out from promoting your products and services, and join one of the most powerful movements on the web, using your very own blog as a catalyst for change!