Can you feel the rumble moving across the Net? Is it a server malfunction? The train outside your tiny apartment? No, it’s a band of bloggers swarming across the Sphere, bringing truth and justice to the top ranks of your google search! The now widely used Blogswarm is another tool used in social media to raise awareness of important news and issues.

But what is a blogswarm, and how does it work? A blogswarm happens when groups of bloggers, out of urgent need or pre-arranged agreement, all write posts about the same issue and urge others to write.  Recently we had a  ‘swarm where bloggers encouraged people to contact their representatives and ask them to vote yes on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.  That was motivated by situational need. In other cases, a specific day of the year will come around, and folks will agree to write posts on a topic that’s close to their hearts. For example, May 1st was Blog Against Disablism Day, where people write about disability issues.  It’s been going on since 2006.

Do BlogSwarms really help? Yes. And just as important, they’re a ton of fun! You get to join together with others across the blogosphere, and for one day everyone has the same goal: get more people to care/understand/do something about X, Y, or Z. There’s also alot of freedom in it, because everyone crafts their own message, as long as the end result is the same. A ‘swarm is a great way to reach down into the pool of information we all wade through, pull one thing out, and let the Net World know that a lot of people think this is worth knowing about.

Try it for yourself! There’s plenty of ‘swarms out there waiting for another blogger to join the pack. Or set up your own swarm day! Choose a date and topic, post about it, send links out to other bloggers, and let the word fly! A blogswarm is one more tool we have for keeping folks connected to what’s going on around them.