Does social innovation equal social change?

"'These tools are actually not that complicated,'Change.org founder Ben Rattray said, downplaying the 'innovation' part of the technology.'Social change is less about the tools and more about the applications of those tools.'"

This article examines the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter in light of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, as well as the revolutionary efforts in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East. Like many issues, the implication that the social innovation itself is causing social change can be seen from more than one angle. Of course, there have always been revolutionaries - the American Revolution (among countless others) didn't need a network of computers to get off the grounds and spread their message. There were certain leaders (and there are certain leaders today) that had a vision and the ability to mobilize people for their vision of change. This idea is express in the quote at the top of the post taken from the article. Even so, the ease of spreading ideas and the ability to make plans of action cannot be underestimated. With sites like Tumblr, anyone can share their story on the "We are the 99 percent" site in support of Occupy Wall Street (and, a few days later, those against the movement can share their ideas on the "53 percent" Tumblr). Neither side has to wait for television coverage or wait until they are published in a national newspaper to get coverage; every individual can spread their ideas across the world in seconds.

Is it fair to say that every social innovation creates social change? Probably not in this aspect, at least in my opinion. Without a doubt, good social innovation can impact society and change the way of life that wouldn't be possible without some sort of new innovation. Improvements in quality of life can expand one's horizons and their ability to change their own destiny. However, I think there are few innovations so simple as a Twitter than can profoundly impact millions, or potentially billions, of people from around the world.

Similarly related to this concept of using social media for social change is the organization "TwitChange." In order to raise money for various charitable causes, celebrities such as Troy Polamalu and Kim Kardashian have fans bid money to have that celebrity tweet their account name or subscribe to their Twitter. The cost of running the program is extremely low as the prize involves a few lines of text on a website. Although using Twitter in this manner is not aiming to start a social revolution, the social innovation of Twitter allows for a much greater impact without large overhead fees.

Although social innovation is not always needed for social change, the social innovation present in social media has such a great potential to further spread social change, or to result in more innovative ways to provide for charitable causes.