Ypulse Toolbox: 10 Youth Activism Sites To Know

For this Ypulse Toolbox, I'm focusing on 10 youth activism sites to give you a broad brush of what's happening in this space. I know there are many, many more amazing youth activism oriented communities, Facebook applications/groups and MySpace pages — and I hope folks will leave some of these in the comments. Obviously social media is transforming activism by allowing people to organize and connect at levels unimaginable before the internet. These communities will give you a sense of which issue are important to today's new generation of activists.

TakingITGlobal - One of my favorite youth activism sites, founded by two young Canadians, Jennifer Corriero and Michael Furdyk, this site is truly global in its membership and issues.

YouthNoise - YouthNoise is based here in San Francisco and has spoken at the past two Ypulse Mashups. I have been very impressed by their ability to partner with the top brands in the youth space like Virgin Mobile and Nike. They also get the power of both maintaining their own community and a strong presence on the major social networking sites where more youth hang out.

ThinkMTV - Even if some would argue that MTV's status within youth culture has been on the decline in part due to the long tail and user generated content online, they still have more resources, distribution and creative talent than most grassroots organizations making them a valuable megaphone and meeting place on important issues.

MySpace Impact - We all know that more young people have moved over to Facebook for their day-to-day social networking, but MySpace remains a powerhouse in the music and entertainment space. MySpace Impact provides a clearinghouse for MySpacers interested in a variety of issues.

Do Something - I've been a fan of Do Something ever since I worked at Teen Voices in Boston and shared office space with the local chapter in the YMCA. The national organization, like YouthNoise, is big on partnering with youth brands like Doritos and Aeropostle, but also taps celebrities to get its message across — remember it was founded by former "Melrose Place" star Andrew Shue.

SocialVibe - These guys are for-profit and a new player on the scene, but I like how they are combining causes, brands and social networking to raise money for worthy organizations.

the glue network - I love this site. It's the action sports answer to social activism or, in its own words, an "ON and OFF-line brand and community that exists to inspire and empower people to be the change they want to see in the world."

Invisible Children - They spoke at our San Diego Mashup a few years ago and continue to build a movement around their cause of helping children in Uganda. They've partnered with high profile musicians and appeared on one of my favorite cancelled shows, "Veronica Mars." Like the glue network, Invisible Children has Christian undertones, but both organizations strike me as non-dogmatic and inclusive.

Peta2 - Peta gets the importance of youth in their cause of furthering animal rights, so much so, they have dedicated an entire part of their organization to reaching and organizing youth. They also come up with some pretty funny viral videos from time to time.

Ashoka Youth Venture While Youth Venture is more of a funding organization and community for teams of young people it funds to create social change, it's definitely worth checking out to see what kinds of projects these young activists are dreaming up.

The Hip-Hop Association - The NetVibes hosting is kind of clunky, but this organization really is the clearing house site/community for activism happening in the urban youth/hip hop space.

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