GOOD Launches New Social Activism Platform

September 19, 2012; Source: All Things D

Yesterday Good Magazine launched a new and improved online website that functions as a social media platform for users to connect and share stories on social good. Users can share stories by posting ‘something to Do’ or ‘something to Learn’ on the website and has integrated a “good” button which is similar to the Like button on Facebook. While other social media websites focus on sharing personal statuses and images, good.is will focus on sharing ideas. The GOOD Company has had a somewhat bumpy year, after laying-off a majority of its editorial staff in June and purchasing Jumo, a charity social network founded by Facebook’s co-founder Chris Hughes that never quite made it big due to underwhelming levels of user traffic.

CEO of Good Magazine Ben Goldhirsh stated, “When Jumo merged with GOOD the hope was to build a single community of engaged citizens and mission-driven organizations. We all believed that socially minded people needed a place to convene, join forces, learn from one another and take action together – I think the new good.is can be that place.”

Since Jumo wasn’t a successful endeavor as a social network what will Good.is be doing differently? Goldhirsh said, “Jumo had a lot of focus on creating relationships between nonprofits and individuals, but we think what’s fundamental is creating relationships between individuals and the people they respect.” Goldhirsh emphasized that this new platform is “more about ‘activation’ than media.”

Good.is is setting itself apart from other social media sites by sticking to its magazine roots and providing a global news feed curated by an editorial team, similar to what LinkedIn Today offers. Goldhirsh also said to expect full website search capabilities and a mobile app coming soon. Do you think good.is could be the next big social network for nonprofits? –Aine Creedon