In taking a peak at this article, PR Leap cites Razoo's stated mission as:
"To promote social good and to inspire others to get involved by making giving
and serving fun, easy, and meaningful."
Many people have seen the Ragu (yes, the pasta sauce) commercials. Didn't they try to promote the same type of thing? Inspiring people to get together to have fun with other meaningful people, and enjoy an easy meal by serving Ragu as an easy way to complete that meal. Sounds about right...
But, what's the real premise of Razoo (the social networking site this time)?
Razoo is trying to pioneer a new type of web 2.0 where visitors work together for a shared cause characterized as "good" in nature. It's the beginning of what Paul Lamb of CNET News calls, "Neighborhood social networking." Paul talks about these new sites as a way of learning about people in need, and then actually helping them, all on the go!
While initiatives like this always sound magnificent in theory, there are a few concerns I have:
1) Will enough people actually use it so that an older lady in an Idaho town who needs help, can actually receive the help from someone else located nearby?
2) People will abuse the system by either a) volunteering and never appearing, or b) subsequently stalking persons they help out.
From these concerns, word of mouth with thine friends sounds just a bit more promising, and safe. What's more, you're essentially soliciting anonymous helpers by inviting anyone who wants to help to contact you. Each site of this kind works differently, but I think an entire-address-book-mass-e-mail is a better idea.
7 comments:
You can see where Razoo means well, but you are pretty dead on about the potential issues. While I see the "lack of users" not so bad - in fact, there could be plenty of people that are attracted to the site. Your second point hits it the most - it is too easy to just blow off a volunteer since you have no idea who the end person is. There is little sense of accountability towards a stranger. And the chance of an extremely negative action coming is great (need we talk about the Craig's list murder?).
I think Razoo is attempting to create what we should already have - community. A group of people that look out for each other. In community, we are more inclined to help a stranger because we are directed towards them by someone we know. How often do we talk to a friend that has a need and we rifle thru our minds and reply "I know someone that does that - let me give him a call". And then community comes in - hooking up someone with a need with someone that can meet that need. Total strangers, but with the shared friend, there is trust and accountability. We just need to be ready to identify and step up when we hear an opportunity to help.
The funny thing is that my boyfriend Kyle built and is still building Razoo's entire website. If you have any questions I can direct them to him :)
hi ! you send a message on my blog. i´m informemmachado my real name is eileen i´m form venezuela and if you want i cant send you the information of my blog to you just need your email... SORRY MY ENGLISH IS NOT VERY WELL
Indeed! I'm glad other people were bothered about this whole Razoo network. I didn't even think of the dangers that could be associated with this. To me, it's just ineffective. Are we so distanced from each other that we can't check up on a neighbor? Maybe if we spent less effort on something like Razoo and actually mingled with our neighbors we wouldn't need such a creation.
Hi I left a message in your Aug 27 2007 post :)
I'm from Malaysia.
I don't understand what do you mean by "where does your inspiration come from?" Do you mean my article?
Can you read Chinese?
Thanks for dropping by. Pretty nice blog you've got here... I'll be back :)
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