Homeless People Use Social Media for Support

August 3, 2011

Homeless People Use Social Media
This is a guest post from our friends at Salty Waffle.
CNN had a story on how homeless people are using social media to find community, food, and shelter. How amazing. Twitter is the main source of finding food shelters and housing for people online. Likewise, AnnMarie Walsh, a woman previously homeless began tweeting to conquer her fears and loneliness attributed to living on the street. This is powerful tool for connection. For this woman, just knowing people were reading her tweet and responding was enough to encourage her. A new website, We Are Visible, has been created to connect homeless people and create an online community. The website serves to empower homeless people by connecting them to tell their own stories. If you are like me, you might wonder how are people living on the streets going online enough to utilize social media? Kara Finnstrom, covered the story and stated that many people have their phones before going homeless and make them a priority. In addition public sources like libraries are being used. Check out the story here and see the video here.
To learn how to utilize social media to make an impact on your community check out Salty Waffle’s social media classes.

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