Can Social Media be Used to Revive the Economy?

The Great Depression of the 1930s had Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR was the man most people looked to for leadership in that time of global economic crisis and world war. In this News Reel that played in movie theaters across the nation he asks for foreclosures across the country to be halted until homes and farms could take advantage of federal credit and in clear terms he explains to the country the steps the Government will take to speed economic recovery in America. Roosevelt describes striking plans for the stabilization of currency, and for mortgage and home relief."

During that uncertain economic period Roosevelt created a government program called the New Deal which was set up to provide work for the unemployed, help the economy recover and change the economic and banking systems that brought America and the world to its knees. Through the programs FDR initiated it took over 10 years for the economy to recover but it did recover and went on to boom.

With all the programs FDR had at his fingertips the there were a few things FDR didn't have: Television, the Internet and Social Media.

As a nation and as a world we have some heavy lifting ahead of us but we also have some powerful tools at our fingertips. We have the power to help others find jobs. We have the power as individuals to create jobs. We have the potential power to use social media to revive the economy much faster than FDR did.

We don't need permission from the government. We don't need corporate approval. We don't need bank approval. We don't need the stock exchange to recover first. All we need is a will. A will to share work, goods and services to each other through the use of the internet, online video and social networking. And a will to take action and make something happen.

Wow, that's are cool and stuff Tim but what the hell are you talking about?

I'm talking about us, the community of social media. I'm talking about the people who use social media on a daily basis thinking about our hopes, our dreams, what we really want, what we really need and how we can work together to help each other and maybe in turn help the nation and the world.

Are you looking for work? Are you looking to hire someone? Are you looking to sell something? Are you looking to buy something? Are you looking to start a project? Are you looking to fund a project? Are you looking to sponsor a project? How can we make these transactions happen quicker? How can we get money into the hands of people who need it sooner? With social media we can move at lighting speed. If we build a network large enough we can change things overnight. We don't need to wait and see what the government is going to do for us, we can do it ourselves. Right here inside our little bubble of social media we have some very smart people and some very smart leaders among us.

There are people and companies here in our network that have already made a difference in their workspaces and in their cultures. Companies like Zappos with leaders like Tony Hsieh have changed the way people think about their jobs. People like Leo Laporte, Robert Scoble, Kent Nichols, and Guy Kawasaki have large followings that they can reach out to. Leaders like Tony Hsieh and events like TED can all get involved in a social media community movement that can make things better for us before they get worst. Then we can take what we've learned to the masses.

By getting all of us social media people involved we can use our social media tools to revive things for our community now and maybe with what we learn we can also use social media to revive the economy for the rest of the world.

It all starts with one step. Do you think there is something you have to offer? Do you have ideas to share? Do you think you could be a part of tackling some of the biggest issues facing our planet?

Care to comment? Have you already blogged about it? Is there someone already doing this?

#smre