Bloggers being the difference (they want to see in the world)

I struggle with the word “blogger,” especially when using it to describe myself.  Yes, I have a blog.  I post (fairly) regularly and try to reach out through my blog to interact with amazing people.  I guess technically that makes me a blogger – one who blogs.  But I’m not an “A-list blogger.”  Completely the opposite:  I’m a teeny, tiny blogger.  So it feels weird to call myself one.  It doesn’t help that the conversation usually goes like this:

“So, what do you do?” (By the way, I hate this question on principle, for many reasons.)
“Well, I’ve been writing.  I have a blog about sustainability.”
*crickets*
“I have a website, a blog.  And I write about sustainability.”
*crickets*
“Sustainability, and the intersection between sustainability and personal choice.  Conscious living… personal growth.”
“…”
“I also do some consulting work with green start-up companies and some freelance writing and website design.”
“Oooh…. Well that sounds great!  Good for you.”

Clearly, the word blogger and I have a very long way to go.

But that is starting to change.  I kind of want to push past and call myself a blogger, and to get to the point where I feel like I deserve that label (whatever that means).

Because this December, a bunch of A-list bloggers have blown me away with the messages they are spreading, the examples they set, and their use of social media to direct attention to meaningful causes.  I don’t know if it is inspired by the holidays, or something in the air, but it seems like many bloggers are reaching outside their area of expertise, and are using their blogs and social media networks to affect global change.  And I love it!

I am sure this list could be much longer, but these three bloggers stood out for me, particularly because of the gentle way in which they used social media to leverage their causes.

Leo Babauta

Leo Babauta, the creator of Zen Habits (and the recently launched Mnmlist), is a pretty inspiring guy, even on his worst day.  I look forward to new posts on both his blogs and keep an eye on his Twitter account for humorous and insightful comments and articles.  Still, I’ll admit to squeaking like a fangirl when I read this tweet, one of several he sent about vegetarian and vegan eating:

“Beef production contributes more to climate change than entire transportation sector. /via @noimpactman http://is.gd/5gu7B”

His series of no-meat-tweets made my little green-geek heart sing, and I was thrilled to see him leading by example on one of my pet issues.  (Also, Monday night’s bike twitpic gets two thumbs up!)

But even more than his quiet advocacy for sustainable eating and low-impact life choices, I admire his Blog With Heart Challenge, launched jointly with Arvind Devalia of Make it Happen.  What a great way to engage a community of people who love to be engaged!  (At least, it seems to be that is a common trait among bloggers.)  This is also social media leveraging at its finest, pulling together people from all over the world in order to really make a difference.

Seth Godin

A couple of weeks ago, Seth Godin pre-released 3,000 copies of his new book, Linchpin, to motivated readers.  The catch?  In order to receive a copy, you had to make a donation of at least $30 to the Acumen Fund, an organization that uses what they call “patient capital” to fight poverty in the developing world.  In just 49 hours, this book release promotion raised $108,000.

For marketing purposes, Seth could have used many other means of selecting the recipients of his book.  Frankly, some of them might have resulted in more publicity for him.  But he chose this way – pebble, ripple, wave.

Darren Rowse

On Monday night I heard the happy little Twitter chirp and tabbed over to see this, tweeted by Problogger Darren Rowse:

“RT @BitsofBeauty: If each of @problogger‘s followers donated 35c we’d reach our goal – http://bit.ly/7F36Ai – let’s do it”

I clicked through and read the heart wrenching story of the Champet Girls Dormitory and Library Project, a cause I would probably never have stumbled onto if it weren’t for Darren Rowse.  As I have mentioned before, education of girls and women is absolutely one of the most powerful tools we have to deal with all of the issues that confront our species and our planet.  This project is an example of where just a little bit of social media can make a huge difference in the life of many,  and contribute to a more hopeful future for each and every one of us.

I wish there was a way to track how many donations came in because of Darren’s tweet.  I know that at least one – mine – was because of him.

So thanks, you guys.  Thanks for making me proud to say that I’m a blogger and giving me something to aspire to.  Thank you for leading by example.  And thank you for using who you are and what you do to address issues that affect all of us.