We need social good now more than ever

Like many people, I am struggling to make sense of the news this week. First there was the shooting in a gay club in Orlando, where 49 people were killed and 53 injured. Then Nigel Farage unveiled an anti-migrant poster which was so offensive that it was described as a ‘blatant attempt to incite racial hatred’ and has been reported to the police. And then yesterday came the awful news that Jo Cox, an MP and mother of two who had campaigned for Oxfam and the NSPCC was murdered by a man who allegedly shouted, ‘Britain first.’ 

Jo was by all accounts a strong, opinionated, inspiring woman who was fighting for a better world. The fact that she was lost in such a senseless way is abhorrent. Her death comes in the final few days before the EU referendum. When I woke up this morning I felt ashamed of the society we live in and the inflammatory campaigning that we have seen over the last few weeks. What have we become? As Alex Massie puts it, rhetoric has consequences.

So what can we do about this? We owe it to people like Jo to keep fighting for social good. As Fiona Pattison of Open says in her blog , we can do this in any number of ways from campaigning to fundraising and even the way we talk to each other. These actions might sound small but together they are powerful. Already today, both in the press and on my social media feeds, the conversation is shifting away from fear and negativity towards compassion and tolerance. Ella Jolly has also started a JustGiving page where you can make a donation to Oxfam in Jo's memory. Jo's friends and family have also set up a fund. 

I could write an entire blog about the Leave and Remain campaigns (and I might do that after the result) but today I want to look at what else we can do in the name of social good. Earlier this week I was invited to an event at Facebook where they shared what they are doing in this area, and lots of people have been asking me to blog about what I learned there. Here’s what Facebook are working on as part of the tech for good movement:

• Safety check. This was deployed for the first time in the US after the shootings in Orlando. Since it was launched in December 2014, more than 1 billion people have heard that a friend has been marked safe in a crisis. It’s a simple and easy way to say you’re safe and check on others after a major disaster or crisis. For the latest on Safety Check and how the engineering team is approaching the product, see this Code post.
• Facebook safety. Developed in partnership with mental health charities, Facebook has developed new tools to offer support to those expressing thoughts about suicide or self-injury on the platform. Read their announcement.
• Accessibility. Using machine learning, Facebook has developed tools to generate descriptions of photographs for those who are viewing the platform using screen readers. It’s known as automatic alternative text. Read more here. Anything which makes social networks more inclusive and open to all can only be a good thing.

As we come to the end of a difficult week, there is still much we can all do to bring people together and unite against hatred. Whether it’s the way we talk to each other, the tools that we use, or just the simple act of listening to different views we can all play a role in creating a better society. Social good is one of the best weapons we have.

Jo Cox left behind her a legacy of inspiration. The difference she made in the short time she was here makes me feel even more determined to keep fighting for the voices of charities and the people they help to be heard. Who's with me?