How-To Guides

• Buy Fairtrade certified products
• Volunteer for the movement to end poverty
• Build your understanding of poverty: read books!
• Keep up with the latest poverty news: read blogs
• Use social networking sites to talk about poverty
• Campaign for Fairtrade in your community
• Talk to friends and colleagues about poverty
• Organise an advocacy or campaign event
• Organise a fundraising event
• Blog about poverty
• Learn on the Web
• Write a convincing letter to the editor
• Speak up and use your voice to fight poverty

Use social networking sites to talk about poverty

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have some practical uses after all.

In the last month, have you filled out a Facebook quiz? Have you posted some photos onMySpace? Have you tracked down and clicked through every photo of a person you recently met?

If you answered yes to any of these question, especially the last, get excited—you have the time to use Facebook and MySpace to contribute to ending extreme poverty.

Challenge yourself to spend the next 15 minutes taking action against poverty throughFacebook, MySpace and Twitter. Go on, there are at least 1.4 billion reasons why you should.

Global change occurs at a local level. It's about you, your friends and their friends.

If you need convincing, did you hear about the large bank that changed its fee structure because of a Facebook campaign? Did you know that news of swine flu spread quickest on Twitter?

Are you thinking "I don't even know where to start" or "I don't want to harass my friends"? Don’t worry. Here are some ideas.

Where do I start?

The best place to start is to think about your purpose. What do you want to achieve in the next 15 minutes? Is it to inspire your friends to get involved? Is it to educate your friends about poverty? Is it to promote The Global Poverty Project? Hopefully it's all three! Keep your purpose at the front of your mind. It will help you use your 15 minutes effectively.

What information do I share?

If you've seen 1.4 billion reasons, think about the things that really hit a chord with you. What facts caught your attention? What stories made you commit to do something? What ideas inspired you? If they worked on you, the chances are your friends will be interested too.

If you haven't seen the presentation yet... do this... and why not invite some friends to go with you to the presentation?

How do I share this information?

This really depends on what it is you're trying to do. Are you trying to inspire, educate or promote? Here are a few ideas for each:

Inspire

• Share a video. Jump onto YouTube and find a video to share with 20 friends. We've developed a channel of inspiring videos that are perfect for you to share. Additionally, post 3 videos to your profile.
• Write a note. Tell a story. Share your thoughts and views about global poverty with your friends. Write about the parts of 1.4 Billion Reasons which stayed in your mind. Pose questions to your friends. Share some of the basic facts. Most importantly, give them a way to find out more and become involved.

Educate

• Post a question in your status. Think of something provocative. What about "who thinks anything can be done about global poverty?". Try posting something that will catch peoples attention. Start a discussion.
• Donate your status. Post a basic statistic in your status. Include a link to let people find out more information. Here is a list of basic statistics that are perfect for this.

Promote

• Invite 20 friends to a presentation of 1.4 Billion Reasons on Facebook, Twitter orMySpace.
• Invite 20 friends to the Global Poverty Project Group on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.

Try to do all of these in 15 minutes. Is it possible? There's only one way to find out.