John Bell’s post, “Nonprofit Widgets in the Age of OpenSocial” got me thinking about how to use widgets to support advocacy for human security, humanitarian access, and the security of aid workers. I’m not a coder but luckily many websites can help generate widgets based on content selected by the user. The “Selected News” sidebar on this page is an example of such a widget.

The people search engine Spock lets you create similar Flash and JavaScript widgets based on the search results you use. On my Demo page you can see three widgets based on the search terms “death by firearm”, “murdered aid worker” and “murdered journalist”. The content is a little sparse for the last two terms but I’m hoping to work with Spock to change this. These ideas only scratch the surface. How about a widget that rotates images of detained activists... missing persons... great humanitarians,,, kidnapping victims? The possibilities seem endless.

Of course there are other widget options. If you’re looking to do some fundraising organizations like the Network for Good can help you create a custom widget. They call them badges. Beth Kanter used one to help her raise funds to send young Cambodians to university. If you go to her blog and scroll down a little you can see the widget in the sidebar.

If you have any ideas you want to share please leave a comment.

Tags: Technology, Tools, Spock, Advocacy