Change the world with social networking from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

A chat with Deanna Zandt, author of the new book 'Share This!'

At Personal Democracy Forum last month I got a chance to sit down for a few minutes with Deanna Zandt, who spoke on the main stage minutes beforehand. Her new book, Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking, just came out.

"Empathy is the building block for any kind of social change," she says in the interview. "It's leading us away from apathy and isolation."

While the new social tools are empowering, she called on people to go further and to "rearrange power relationships" and to "dismantle hierarchies." That can be achieved, Zandt said, through "three easy tasks":

1. to be authentic by sharing pieces of ourselves;
2. to diversify and cross-pollinate across barriers. For instance, tech conference speakers are generally white and male. "I want to challenge people to find people who don't think like them or talk like them."
3. to take that empathy and put yourself in others' shoes.

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo

AlterNet is hosting a book launch party for Deanna tomorrow in San Francisco. Details:

What: Book launch for Share This! See invitation page on Facebook -- 45 confirmed attendees so far

When: July 20, 6-9 pm

Where: Bender's Bar & Grill, 806 S Van Ness Ave., San Francisco

From the book's site:

As social media becomes increasingly present in our everyday lives, a major democratic cultural shift is underway. Through the power of relationships, sharing of experiences, and organizing online, previously marginalized voices are pouring into and shaping public conversations like never before.

But serious change will not happen on its own. Despite the increasing presence of a diversity of voices and faces, the Internet isn’t fulfilling its disruptive potential; more often than not, it’s simply replicating and amplifying inequality and segregation. The good news? The fundamental building block common to every social movement is the power of the narrative. Your story… and your willingness to share others’ stories with your networks… can mean the difference between progressive change and perpetuating the status quo. We need you here, building and mapping your relationships, sharing your experience and creating pipelines of empathy and trust that will change the world.

This book is a blueprint for understanding why and how this medium of exchange works, and how our personal stories and daily experiences comprise a profoundly political picture that leads to social action and social change.

I won't be able to make tomorrow's event but I'll be there in spirit. Good luck with the book tour, Deanna!

JD Lasica is founder of Socialmedia.biz. We work with large companies and nonprofits on social media strategies and campaigns. See JD's business profile, contact him or leave a comment.