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ChangeEverything.ca, the online community we conceived and built for Vancity, has been nominated for a Webby Award.
That in itself would be pretty damn remarkable - but look at the competition in its category, social networking:
- Bebo
- Flock
- Ning
That's three major commercial social networks, and one highly-regarded up-and-coming application. Heady company!
As David and Goliath matchups go, Change Everything versus Facebook at first looks like a foregone conclusion. Facebook, after all, claims more than 70 million active users, and is ranked the second most-visited social web site in the world. Change Everything's registered users number in the low thousands, largely drawn from the Vancouver area - and even if every single person in Vancouver joined, the site would still be dwarfed by the blue-and-white juggernaut.
But look again at the kind of participation going on at Change Everything. This is a genuine community: people working together toward shared real-world goals. Facebook has sheer numbers on its side, but the depth of participation on each site is dramatically different.
Which is why last year around this time, when Change Everything was tapped as a Webby Official Honoree (not as cool as being a nominee, but certainly better than being a Webby Object of Scorn and Ridicule), Rob wrote that, proud as we were of the site,
more credit goes to Vancity, their online visionary William Azaroff, and most importantly the site's moderator Kate Dugas.
And more than to any of us, the real credit ought to go to everyone who's participating in ChangeEverything.ca, from the folks who just leave an occasional comment or vote in one of Kate's polls to the regulars whose contributions make the site such a vibrant, inspiring community.
Change Everything's success points to a hunger out there for social networking with substance - online community that goes beyond racking up "friends" or sending messages. That's especially encouraging to those of us who believe in the power of social media as tools for meaningful social change.
The judges will choose one of the winners in the category; your votes will select another. We hope you'll consider supporting Change Everything. And congratulations and best of luck to all of the nominees.
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