We applaud Chris Hughes, the Facebook co-founder, to launch Jumo.com, a social network for social activism.
Founded in February 2010, Jumo is a social network connecting individuals and organizations working for global change. Leveraging connection technologies, Jumo enables everyday people to find, follow and support those working toward solutions in their community and in regions around the world.
Jumo is a 501(c)(3) organization founded and directed by Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and director of online organizing for Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.
For more information, visit www.jumo.com
I have a problem: it’s hard to find smart people doing meaningful work on the issues I care about. I’m sure they’re out there, but I can’t find them.
Occasionally, if I do find them, a second problem arises: it’s hard to keep up with them. As fast as they enter my consciousness, they leave it. For all of our fancy tech ingenuity, it’s a marvel to me that it’s so hard to connect to the things I care about.
There is no shortage of problems in our world. Here in the United States people are struggling to make ends meet, to find well-paying jobs, to support their families.
The recession has been equally hard, if not even harder, on people in the developing world. Billions of people around the world still don’t have adequate access to basic healthcare or education. Governments are corrupt, and natural disasters keep striking.
But there’s reason to hope. In the past 20 years we’ve seen the introduction of incredible new communication technologies. Of the six billion people on the planet, four billion people have mobile phone access. Over a billion of us actively use the web. Over 500 million people are connected to their friends and family on Facebook.
While they’re not a panacea, communication technologies make it easier for people to share their work and passions, learn from others, and improve the quality of their activism.
When I founded Jumo earlier this year, I had simple vision: use networking technology to connect individuals and organizations working for global change. I wanted to build a network to help everyday people find, follow, and support those working day in and day out to make change happen in our communities and in regions around the world.
After months of work by a small, but incredibly dedicated and talented team, we launch the first beta version of Jumo. What you see today is only the first step in what we build over the coming months and years. I’m looking forward to your thoughts and feedback.
Together we can speed the pace of global change.
Chris