Call me stuck up, but I have always been a proponent of Action before Theory. Given the opportunity, I would rather take an active role rather than discussing it over coffee. This is the reasoning that lead me to Uganda in 2009, instead of re-posting an Invisible Children video. This is what always bothered me about sites like Facebook and Twitter; people "like" and share videos rather than getting themselves involved. Granted, it does help to raise awareness of issues, but I never really believed that it could translate to action in the real world (IRL). Apparently I was mistaken. According to surveys done recently, and reported at the Business News Daily site, more than half of users on 4 of the 5 biggest social media sites report having taken offline action because of online interaction. Some of the most common of these are offline meetings between people, attending events (such as a conference) and participation in activities, such as sports. Each of the big social media sites specializes in their own way at getting people involved (Facebook tends to be more social oriented LinkedIn tends to relate to job changes) but these finding are good news for anyone hoping to inspire action. So remember, the next time you find yourself faced with a tragic Youtube clip, get involved, make a donation or join a 5K to raise funds for a cause. Imagine what could happen if over 1 billion people took their support one step farther than Facebook . Therein lies the power to move (metaphorical) mountains.

Interested? Want to learn more? Check out the original post here. Do your social media habits ever make the transition from digital idea to physical action? Tell us about it in the comment section!