Communication Through New Media

Communications New Media

Care2 -- Social Network Tool

Care2 was started by Randy Paynter in 1998 however it was a dream that he developed when he was a young adolescent (Paynter). He was traveling in South America with his father studying environmental issues and realized that there was a great imbalance in society in regards to how people treat the planet as well as how people treat each other. Paynter desperately wanted to be a force for positive change in the world and when the internet became main stream he identified this as one vehicle to reach millions of people. He started the organization out of his apartment and today the organization has more than fifty employees, fifteen million members, four hundred non-profit partners, and hundreds of responsible advertisers who are committed to making a difference (Paynter).

Care2 is a profitable, privately funded company and a B-Corporation. The company's business model is focused on pay-per-action lead generation for non-profit organizations and CPM sponsorships for responsible consumer brands. As a B-Corporation or social enterprise, Care2 generates revenues by connecting individuals with nonprofits and businesses that are making the world a better place (Care2). Care2 is a social action network whose mission is to empower millions of people to lead a healthy, sustainable lifestyle and support socially responsible causes (Care2).

Care2's site includes content offered by users and contributors including such things as original stories, blogs and content provided by syndication partners covering a broad range of issues from healthy lifestyle areas, and causes ranging from politics to human rights and animal welfare. The site is useful to people who are involved in various causes because it integrates various relevant content sources and also provides some actionable opportunities; such as petitions, pledges and daily actions. Care2 claims that it builds a deeper level of passion and engagement with its users than other sites that do not appeal to social or environmental issues. Their loyalty program, the Butterfly Rewards member loyalty program, offers people a chance to support their favorite causes by undertaking some project for that can earn their favorite organization money or credit from other users of Care2.

Care2 target market represents the emerging majority of conscious consumers, who bringing a high level of passion for social or environmental issues. These consumers are highly aware of environmental and social issues and this issues influence to everything they do; especially in regards to shopping. The typical Care2 user, according to the website, is a woman who is 25-54 years old, lives with a spouse or partner, and has one or more pets, volunteers for causes she believes in, buys eco-friendly products and donates to nonprofits (Care2).

Care2 represents the largest and fastest growing social networking tool in this specific niche. It has over sixteen million registered users and claims to have had a pretty steady growth rate, over a hundred seventy percent, in unique visitors' per year. Care2 also owns and operates another subsidiary site that is a tool used to gather petitions for various causes; it is said to have been generating over twenty million signatures in the past year. With strategic partner applications, such as Facebook, and a network of over one hundred revenue sharing partner sites, Care2 is estimated to be able to reach over one hundred fifty million people. Therefore, it is reasonable to claim that Care2 represents a popular and effective way to organize people to help with their favorite causes, social, and environmental issues.

There are several ways in which tools can help individuals raise money for their cause or preferred organization. For example, members can send out emails to their contacts with information about the cause as well as an opportunity to make a financial contribution. Another way funds can be generated is through advertisers' websites being visited by guests. Each time the guest visits a partner site the activity is recorded and a small financial contribution will be made for each unique visitor. Other than financial support, there are many social tools that can facilitate communication and organize members' efforts. For example, there are profile pages that allow users to meet other users with the same interests in their local area. There are also forums in which users can group comments about different interests so that anyone can read them at any time. Other tools include such items as newsletters and real time updates that can be spread quickly to provide members important news updates.

Evolving Media

Our generation is somewhat unique in regards to fact that we have had the opportunity to experience the rapid evolution of media channels first hand. For example, most of us are still old enough to remember having pen pals from different locations in which letters were mailed back and forth through conventional postal services. Depending on the distance, each letter would take several days to reach the other person and usually the letters were somewhat longer since there was a significant time delay. Now messages effortlessly pass back and forth nearly instantaneously and are usually back and forth conversations composed of smaller bits of information. As a result, the postal services are nearly out of business and employees are trying to rally to save their jobs (O'Keefe).

There is definitely access to a wider range of voices than was ever possible before. However, at the same time it sometimes seems much harder to find quality content admits the web confusion. It's really hard to sort through all the mess on occasions to find something worth reading. For example, I do like to know when my friends' birthdays are but I rarely really care about what they eat for diner or what time they got off of work. Some people seem to abuse social networking by posting things that aren't really of interest to nearly everyone.

I believe the same can be said about news coverage. Although you can access a wide range of voices most of the content is at least somewhat questionable. It seems as if it is common for some analysis to make some judgment based on information they received while sitting behind their computer. It's not that these types of commentaries are not interesting, but there lacks the kind of insight that reporters that are actually on the ground and on site can usually report on with an increased level of accuracy. The new mediums definitely help in some ways but also seem to hurt in others.

Discussion on New Media

One of the most interesting developments in regards to new forms of media and communications, in my opinion is the use of such avenues as Twitter, Facebook, and others to organization political movements. These tools were used to organize essentially leaderless movements that erupted in what now is being called the Arab Spring as well as other political demonstrations in Spain, Greece, and even London (Future Press). Protestors and political activists have now used such tools not only to hold demonstrations, but in some cases actually topple governments.