“Social media’s awesome power can really take your breath away when you take a second to step back and see the change that it can cause in the world. Many brands and traditional media companies are focused on social media’s effects on their relationships with consumers.

Yet it is social media’s ability to fundamentally shift how people discover, connect, communicate and interact with each other that what makes the space so powerful…

Because of social media, not only can people in need… publish their stories and have them read, but these platforms actually make it possible for people to band together to make a difference…

Can social media make charitable giving market efficient? With less bureaucracy, more transparency into the actual effect of your dollars, it would seem that improving the efficiency of charitable giving is not only possible, but likely.”

Read more from Joe Marchese, president of socialvibe, on the contribution social media are beginning to make in the cause world.

image source: Mark Spangler

update July 30: SocialVibe, a new social media platform that enables interaction between people, the brands they love and the causes they are passionate about, announced that it has helped members raise more than $100,000 in donations for charities. Read more here from BusinessWire.