In February 2010 the leading Sustainable Business and CSR thinker, Fabian Pattburg, wrote a blog entitled, Facebook – A useful Sustainability and CSR platform?  In it he concluded that Facebook wasn’t a great platform for sustainability. 

February 2010.  In the world of social media that’s a lifetime ago.  Or even two.  So I want to suggest that in 2012 Facebook will become the central place for communications, information sharing and discussion about sustainability.  And that will be true for NGO’s, businesses, the media and journalist.  In fact anyone who is interested in the issues and wants to further their impact and profile.  So if you’ve not got a presence on Facebook you’d better get one; and fast.

What a week it’s been.  From a story that has bubbled around for a couple of year and stayed in the realms of politicians and celebrities to an explosion of industry rocking proportions.  At the end of which the 168 year old title which was the News of the World is closed.  And hasn’t it been exciting with so much of the drama being played out on Twitter.  From tracking the news as it broke – even before it broke – to seeing the speed and impact of the campaigns against advertisers as they started, gained traction and had impact within a matter of hours.  But to claim it was “Twitter what won it”, as so many have, over plays its role and in a small way shows that while Twitter is a serious news tool, it is also ephemeral and prone to over blown hyperbole.

It has been an interesting week for bloggers and the role of blogging as a legitimate form of journalism, comment and communication.  As I write this first entry for The Message Hub’s new blog I have the words of Andrew Marr ringing in my ears.  According to Andrew, when he spoke at the Cheltenham Literature Festival this week, blogs are often the result of 'spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night”.  I can see his point.