21st Century Mother Teresa In 1950 Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India.

The Missionaries of Charity grew to help the poor, the dying, orphans, lepers, and AIDS sufferers in over a hundred countries. Mother Teresas selfless effort to help those in need has caused many to regard her as a model humanitarian. She ministered for over 45 years before dying at the age of 87 on the cusp of the dot-com bubble in 1997. But what if Mother Teresa were alive and well today? How might she use 21st century technology to accomplish her goals of significantly improving the plight of the least and the lost? Mother Teresa in 140 Characters or Less Its clear that Mother Teresa had an enormous following in her time. If she were alive and well today, she might use Twitter to gain even more followers. While the majority of Twitter users typically follow celebrities for entertainment, there is a connection being made with social causes. Lady Gaga, one of the first pop stars to have truly built her career through the Internet and social media, has over 16 million followers on twitter, whereas the American Red Cross has under 600,000. However, the American Red Cross says that Twitter has helped their efforts: We have found support for our use of Twitter increase over time. As twitter has gone more mainstream, the support for our efforts has increased. The Red Cross strives to be transparent about what we do, and Twitter is a great way to reach the public where they already are. [1] In many ways, Twitter is an ideal social media platform for nonprofit organizations. By tweeting content such as links to blog posts, stories from people that the organization has helped, videos, and more, a nonprofit can project a personal identity to its followers. [2] When people can personally identify with you, they are more likely to participate in your cause. Regardless if Mother Teresa would have used Twitter, it appears to be an excellent tool for those with aspirations of making social change. Mother Teresa: The Social Entrepreneur A 21st century Mother Teresa would likely have the mind of a social entrepreneur. Quite simply, a social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change. There is a vast array of digital resources in addition to twitter that social entrepreneurs can use to raise awareness and gain funding. In their paper on creating an Open Sustainability Network (a network that combines the efforts of nonprofits), Pearce et. al provide a detailed list of such resources: blogs, wikis, forums, journals, databases, social networking sites, social news sites, and social design platforms. [3] Technology often reaches farther than philanthropy and charity can, making technologys role in supporting social change vital. In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa: Username Not Found Its clear that social entrepreneurs can use 21st century technology to their advantage, but would Mother Teresa actually take the digital plunge? Activist and author, Chris Heuertz, thinks not. He had over a dozen meetings as a young boy with Mother Teresa. And when pondering the possibility of Mother Teresa using social media or the web to promote her cause he surmised: I imagine shed get a good laugh at usShe would prophetically remind us all that digital relationships and virtual communities can never be an authentic proxy for human interaction. In fact, one of the major criticisms of Mother Teresa was her lack of use of new technology. Followers and volunteers at Mother House, the heart of the 58-year-old Missionaries of Charity, have questioned the quality of service given in the care centers. Theyve felt the Missionaries care centers are allergic to using modern-day therapy and technology to care for the inhabitants. [4] If the centers didnt, and apparently still do not, take advantage of the medical technology available then its difficult to conclude Mother Teresa or her constituents would use other digital technology as well. So perhaps Mother Teresa would behave all the same in spite of new technology. Whether or not she would have used modern technology, most of us do. And while there are those of us who are more technologically savvy than others, we are all a part of the human network. Every day we have the opportunity to make incremental change in the lives of those we interact with face-to-face. May we not neglect interpersonal connections for their digital counterparts. Surely Mother Teresa would have it no other way.