Blog Action Day 2008 – Five Ways You Can Make A Difference

Today is Blog Action Day 2008. Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Their aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. This year the theme is Poverty. Here are five resources through which you can make a difference through the internet, sitting on your couch.

FreeRice : According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. FreeRice.com allows you to make a difference while playing a game. You have to answer Multiple Choice Questions related to English Vocabulary (default), English Grammar, World Capitals, Famous Paintings, Chemical Symbols, Multiplication Table, German, Italian, Spanish and French. For every question that you answer correctly FreeRice will donate 20 grains of rice to UN World Food Program. I love FreeRice because it’s entertaining, it helps you to learn and at the same time make a difference.

TheHungerSite : Here all you have to do is click. TheHungerSite uses the money earned from sponsors to donate food. Don’t forget to take a look at their store. For every purchase TheHungerSite donates food to the needy.

Everywun : Everywun is a similar venture with a bit more focus on Web 2.0. Everywun allows you to create unique badges which you are encouraged to add to your blog or Facebook, MySpace etc profile. Sponsors donate money to your preffered fund each time your badge is clicked.

GoodSearch : GoodSearch is a search engine powered by Yahoo!. It donates approximately 1¢ for per search to a group of your choice. Considering the number of searches you do regularly the cents can really add up over time.

In My Name : “In My Name” a global effort to raise awareness around eight time-bound, measurable goals (Millennium Development Goals) that the United Nations set back in 2000 to combat global poverty. Youtube has launched a new channel which will be accepting user submitted videos till November 1. Youtube will then create a mashup of the best videos and broadcast it directly to the United Nations General Assembly. To learn more about this initiative check out TechCrunch.

Bonus : This is just for today. Catherine at PinkAsparag will be donating $1 to the local Food Bank for every comment posted on her blog. Yes, it’s that simple!

Blog Action Day is a way for bloggers around the world to unite. If you are a blogger don’t forget to take part. It’s just one post. One post to raise awareness. One post to make a difference towards a common cause. So far 10,431 Blogs have participated with an estimated reach of 11,224,241. As an Opera user I am proud to say that one of the major sponsor of the event is myOpera (with over 1.6 million members, myOpera’s support in both 2007 and 2008 has been a major factor in Blog Action Day’s success). Come, let us make a difference. Let’s get active.