Blogosphere Donates Over $3000 To A Blogger In Need
Only bloggers know the surreal feeling of unity and comfort that can be received from within the largest virtual community ever conceived. There are many reasons why people have blogs. For some people, it is therapeutic, for others it is their full time jobs. Regardless of the reasons why bloggers blog, there is a solid unity and feeling of love and trust within the community. This atmosphere is what bloggers refer to as the blogosphere.
When a blogger falls, it hurts us all…
On January 15th, 2007, well known blogger, RT Cunningham, announced that his wife needed surgery and that she would be out of work for three to four months. To make matters worse, RT is in the Philippines and his wife is currently is the US. Naturally, he wanted to fly out and be with his wife during such times of need. Multiple problems were headed directly into RT’s path. The cost to travel to the US was estimated to be around $1200 USD. Money wasn’t exactly saved up for such an event, as the situation of his wife needing surgery wasn’t something to be expected. To complicate matters even worse, RT has a son attending school and couldn’t be left behind. With a lack of money and extremely complicated family issues, the thoughts of RT being able to see his wife weren’t looking very good. Without money, nothing else was even worth trying to figure out.
The power of bloggers can help those that fall…
Vic, publisher of a blog titled, Blogger Unleashed, who is a regular reader of Untwisted Vortex quickly caught wind of the situation and came to RT’s assistance. He wrote a post titled, A Blogger In Need and then contacted Darren Rowse for assistance. Darren Rowse is a professional, full time blogger and publisher of a blog titled, ProBlogger. Vic asked Darren Rowse if he would mention the situation on his blog and ask for his readers to help. Darren Rowse granted the request for help and then wrote post titled, Help a Blogger in Need.
There were many other bloggers including myself who pitched in to help RT generate the amount of money needed for him to travel safely to visit his wife. In just 24 hours over $3000 dollars was donated to RT and his wife. I had the pleasure of speaking with RT and he is extremely appreciative for all the bloggers who gave out a helping hand. RT mentioned to me, “Both I and my wife thank Vic of Blogger Unleashed for getting the ball rolling and contacting Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, whose post drove well over a thousand visitors to my blog. Without their actions, only a handful of people would have known about it. I’ll keep everyone apprised of updates as the situation evolves.”
This is truly a moment to be recorded in blogosphere history. It is times like this when I can say I am truly proud to be a blogger. I am very pleased to associate myself with such fine people. To generate over $3000 dollars in less than 24 hours to help a blogger out is a story that will be told for years to come. Special thanks goes out to Darren Rowse and the many others who contributed. These people are all class acts in my book. May the power and love within the blogosphere continue to grow and rise.
The story of how the blogosphere helped raise over $3000 dollars is a huge hit. Here is a list of majority of the blog authors out there that helped out:
- help out a fellow blogger
- John Chow Is Getting Fat!
- A Blogger In Need, Needs A Blogger Indeed
- The Power of Blogging to Help a Blogger in Need
- Blogger In Need
- RT at Untwisted Vortex Needs Your Help
- Your Chance To Help A Fellow Blogger
- Blogger In Need
- Social Media and the Power of Giving
- Rally Round!
- Help A Blogger In Need
- Please Help Our Fellow Blogger
- tips to get more out of your WordPress blog.
- lend a helping hand…
- Bloggers Unite to Help
- C’mon Guys, Let’s Do It For RT
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25 comments
That is so profound! Definitely a historic moment.
It is really such an amazing story. I was very happy to have the opportunity to share it with my readers. I truly think its stories like this that can inspire bloggers to continue doing what they do best. The Internet is known an an environment that consists of people who live double lives etc… you hear things about it on the news all the time.
However, the blogging community is much different. It can be perceived as its own Internet or network within the Internet. The blogosphere consists of such a huge cluster of “real and genuine” people. Again, as I mentioned before… its moments like that that make me proud to be a blogger.
It doesn’t get much more real than this: $3000+ Dollars in 24 hours… that is freaking amazing and should be something that makes the headlines. Will it though? Probably not… because as popular as the blogosphere is (100 + million blogs), it is still very underground in the real and unplugged world we live our daily lives in.
The response on this was, in one word, overwhelming.
RT,
I can only imagine man… I am sure that you have found yourself on a cloud for the last 24 hours. I am very happy to discover the “true colors” of the blogging community. I can’t begin to tell you how cool it is to know that there are tons of people out here that are dedicated and committed towards helping another fellow blogger out. I only wish things worked like this in the real world.
Too bad half that money has to go towards covering the cost of bandwidth due to the amount of traffic Darren sent you… LOL!!! Joking…
It is just amazing what can happen when we turn our focus off ourselves , and focus on the needs of others, That defines the Power of Giving
I agree totally… bloggers are pretty good natural born go getters and when it comes to helping someone we care about, the result can be totally amazing.
It is nice to read about the good in humanity versus the dark side which we are reminded of ad nauseam on the news daily.
Cary,
I agree totally. I love to deliver the good news and things on TV such as Britney Spears and things like that are totally making me want to puke. You know, the girl has issues… but come on.. can’t they air something else?? LOL!!!
Talking about “Blogger’s Unleashed”, there has been controversy surrounding his blog lately. People are wondering how he is getting all those visitors! Vic does mention he used to have “BLACK HAT” strategies to gain things, but he supposedly did stop. Although I don’t want to assume things, it seems he also managed to get a link on ProBlogger for this.
Anyways, as for this situation, I sure do wish RT and his wife the best!
-Mike
Mike,
With the events that took place with RT, I have visited quite a few blogs that are unfamiliar to me. So, for the time being, it is uncharted territory. I plan to fully visit many of these new blogs that I have associated myself with and get to know the authors much better. I don’t know about the controversial story regarding Blogger Unleashed, but I will get up to speed as soon as I click this submit button.
Hi Garry,
That is indeed history in the making and like you I’m proud to be part of a community that rallies together when the need arises. Helping people we kind of know feels so much better than spending money on a crappy item that gathers dust anyway.
Thank you for doing this post and spreading some link love in the process.
Monika
Monika,
Another great thing about this wonderful giving situation is the fact that I have made a few new blog friends. I really enjoyed visiting your site today and I plan on coming back and have subscribed to your rss feed as well.
Garry it has been probably the coolest thing I have seen since I started blogging. Thank you for spreading the word. I to did not know of you and this is also a cool thing that has come from this. One of my readers was having a talk on Skype today and says you are also telling people like it is, this is a welcomed blessing.
As for the idiotic comment by Mike Huang yes you are totally correct I used this opportunity to get a link from Problogger or wait maybe not as Darren had offered me to make a guest post back on 03.01.2008 in a comment for the post IZEA and Text Link Ads Bad For Blogging so I guess I did not have to use another’s person misfortune for my gain.
But Mike it seems since this morning all you have been doing is comment trolling real bloggers site as I will quote the comment you left on the same post that Garry has mentioned here.
Apparently you seem to think this is funny and a joke. I would appreciated if you did not use my name or my blogs name to try to comment troll other respectable blogs.
Garry I apologize for this disgrace of a blogger trying to use such a delicate subject to try to gain some readers to his feed. It just disgusting.
Again my thanks and blessings for spreading the word.
this is indeed a great news!!! I even blogged about his story…
Hi Vic,
Welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by. I am not sure what is going on with Mike and yourself but in a few hours I will dig thu all the digital paper work and see what’s up.
I like juicy topics…
Anyway, its nice to meet you and I appreciate that you contacted Darren and appreciate that he granted the request and published an announcement on his site. I can’t believe over $3000 dollars was generated. One of the contributors donated $1000 dollars. Amazing.
[...] the RT Cunningham thing turned out amazingly well. Richard received over $3000 in donations over a 24-hour period and has shut down donations because he has all he needs. The coolness of this is overwhelming. [...]
Hi Garry,
There isn’t any controversy at Blogger Unleashed, except maybe in the mind of Mike. Vic is brutal, untamed, and tells the truth to those that don’t want to hear it. His words are laced with colorful metaphors, and that makes him unique. He doesn’t care what people think of him as long as they listen to the message. I’ve been reading his blog since he started it, and sometimes it’s difficult to read, but the advice he gives out is solid as a rock.
You’ve seen some of my blog reviews. Short, and to the point. Vic’s blog, however, would take me days.
[...] finish the post, here’s one more example of how asking can make a huge difference: “Blogosphere Donates Over 3000 To a Blogger in Need“ addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fjarkkolaine.com%2F2008%2F01%2F18%2Fon-asking-questions%2F’; [...]
This story has been dugg (by me). Prepare for the wrath of the diggers.
What an awesome lead in story.
3000 Reasons Why Diggers Are WRONG About Bloggers
The Division Between Diggers and Bloggers
“It seems that bloggers get the “upraised nose” kind of attitude whenever they submit things to Digg. Bloggers are seen as self-serving and selfish in their self-promotion. I’m here to tell you that it just isn’t so. The story will air on Sky News in the UK on Feb 22, 2008.” -RT Cunningham.
Nice work covering this in DIGG.
I totally recommend that everyone check it out.
[...] then focused on Garry at GarryConn.com and his summary of the events that took place with "Blogosphere Donates Over $3000 To A Blogger In Need". I knew his server could handle it, so I didn't ask before submitting it to [...]
It truly has been an amazing reaction to RT’s original post. The number of bloggers who urged him to add the PayPal button. His initial reluctance. The coverage and, of course, the generosity of those who contributed.
Great story indeed. RT is one of my favorite bloggers and it’s good to know that a lot of people think highly of him too.
Oops, a minor correction. January 22 instead of February 22. My brain is fried.
This is a fantastic story. Wow!
I am going to do a write up on this at my local online newspaper site.
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