Hershey’s was recently being pressured by social media buzz about The chocolate giant; a campaign called Raise the Bar: Hershey Coalition is the source of all this buzz. Hershey’s is known as one of the worst offenders in advocating farms that use slave labor including child slaves.

Hershey’s isn’t alone, however, Mars was recently pressured to change their dastardly ways after being a supporter of the same farms and such using child labor.

Since the public outcry of slave labor nearly ten years ago, all major chocolate companies were made to promise that they would help end slave trafficking and child labor in Africa’s Ivory Coast. At the time, Hershey’s had made almost no progress in its attempts to keep their promise.

Raise the Bar decided to attack via Facebook and Change.org and attack they did. The group generated over 50,000 signatures on change.org, which indeed created a buzz about the company. Supporters of the group blitzkrieged Hershey’s Facebook page, flooding it with negative messages and ill will toward the company. Over 100,000 letters were generated and hand delivered to the company by supporters dressed in costume on Halloween.

After all the hard work by the group, Hershey’s has decided to comply to it’s agreement and now will only buy cocoa from slave-free farms.

A team taking third place at Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2011 produced Lifelens, an app that helps detect malaria much better than traditional means.

Lifelens introduces an innovative point-of-care smartphone application to address child mortality rates caused by the lack of detection and availability of treatment for malaria. The solution has immense potential to reduce the cost of diagnosis and enable children around the world to be treated with the current amount of funding.

The Lifelens team states that child mortality rates “remain unacceptably high” on their official Web site. They go on to say that there are over 1 million deaths a year attributed to malaria.

The current test for malaria, the rapid diagnostic test, is highly inaccurate. The incidence of false positives sit at 60 percent. Each false positive results in medication being delivered to somebody who does not need it – wasting a dosage.

Lifelens was built to combat that through a “robust mobile diagnostic solution” for malaria patients. The app aims to “digitally characterize anemia, visualize blood cell rupture and parasites, and provide three dimensional modeling of cells through single image acquisition of low-volume blood smears by peripheral finger pricks.”

In short, as explained by Neowin, a blood sample is placed on to a dye that only malaria parasites can absorb. The Windows Phone then steps in to take a picture with a 350x modified lens. The app analyzes the sample using the team’s algorithm to determine if the person has malaria.

They claim that Lifelens can be operated by anybody with a basic knowledge of cell phones. This way, they can send devices to people in afflicted areas who have no special training or language skills.

Microsoft awarded the Lifelens team $75,000 to continue their work. The money will also help the team make sure the devices get delivered to the areas that need them the most.

A research study consisting of 500 of Africa’a most active tweeters titled, How Africa Tweets, reveals some interesting data about the phenomenon on the continent.

Over two thirds of those in the survey say that they use Twitter to monitor news. Surprisingly, half the Twitter accounts followed by African’s were based on the continent. And over a quarter of those also said they use Twitter to monitor job postings and employment opportunities.

The average age of Tweeter’s Worldwide is around 39. In Africa it is considerably younger ranging from 20 to 29 years old. Without a hardwired infrastructure available it should come as no surprise that well over half the Tweets came from wireless devices.

Another surprising fact that has come to light is that, despite the undeniable utility of Twitter, few political figures on the continent maintain a presence on the social network. One notable exception is Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s President. He is well known for his candid Twitter commentary.

The following African map supplied by Portland Media illustrates the origins of 11.5 million Tweets recorded from October, November, and December of 2011:

Martin Penner with the World Food Programme spoke in the following video, telling StumbleUpon users, “My colleagues at headquarters have told me that thanks to Stumblers like you, we’re able to feed 3,000 children.”

In a later tweet from the World Food Programme, they put they actually put the number at 5,000. Hopefully, it’s increased even more since then.

As you may know, drought has devastated East Africa, and hundreds of thousands of Somalis have gone to the camp seeking aid.

“When the disaster hit, the World Food Programme turned to StumbleUpon to help drive greater awareness of the situation and feed starving people in Dadaab,” explains StumbleUpon Ad Operations Associate Ben Hardy. “The WFP created a site that calls stumblers to either complete a quiz to feed a child or donate directly to feed people affected by this catastrophe.”

“StumbleUpon donated credit in our Paid Discovery marketing platform to the WFP that brought these donation sites directly to members of our community,” he adds. “By stumbling, sharing, and engaging with the WFP sites, you, our amazing Stumblers, helped feed over 5,000 starving people in urgent need of help.”

Along with this news, StumbleUpon has launched a new program called “Stumbling for Good,” where each month the company will donate Paid Discovery credit to three non-profit organizations. People can recommend organizations by emailing good@stumbleupon.com.

They good do a lot of good with this (as they’re already doing). The StumbleUpon button has now been clicked over 25 billion times, the company revealed in another tweet.

Today they announced the launch of I’m Gonna Be Your Friend, a giant fundraising campaign that looks to spread the word via social media and celebrities – and through celebrities on social media.

The first aspect of this campaign is the accompanying video, available on YouTube. The video shows harrowing footage of struggling Africa people and is directed by Kevin MacDonald of Last King of Scotland fame. It is set to Bob Marley’s song “High Tide or Low Tide,” which includes the line “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” (where the campaign got its name). Check it out:

The second part of the social media campaign is the Twitter and Facebook support. Universal Music Group, Yahoo!, MSN, and others have already teamed up with the social sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as partners in the project. “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” has also attracted a slew of high-profile celebrities -

From today, many icons, celebrities and artists across the world including Eminem, Lady Gaga, Jay Z, David Beckham, U2, Beyonce, The Rolling Stones, Muhammad Ali, Jennifer Lopez, Muse, Coldplay, Elton John, Lewis Hamilton, Britney Spears, Bruno Mars, Robert Plant, Kanye West, Madonna, Cristiano Ronaldo, Justin Bieber, Brian May, Sting, Rihanna and many others are launching the campaign via their huge networks of friends and fans on Facebook and Twitter (#beafriend).

Those celebs will spread the word using their Facebook and Twitter followings. Save The Children estimates a global reach of over 700 million fans.

Cristiano RonaldoI’ve just been informed of this campaign to put an end to Millions of children starvation – Save The Children has launched an emergency aid response in Africa – Please watch this video, share with friends and download Bob Marley & The Wailer’s single ‘High Tide or Low Tide’ with all proceeds going to the East Africa food crisis appeal. You can and help now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJVQKra7gA&feature=share 7 hours ago · 20,260 likes · 2,556 comments

People can donate to the cause either by purchasing the Bob Marley track from iTunes or by donating directly from the “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” site. Also, people can help by simply spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter. They ask they Twitter chatter contain the hashtag #beafriend.

Save The Children says that drought in north east Kenya and Somalia has led to a massive food crisis.

Families have lost their crops, livestock, and their food supplies – up to 60% of cattle have died in some areas. Food and water prices have soared.

Spread the word, help out. Social media for social good is something we can all get behind.

"One of the things we spend a lot of time thinking about at Google is how we can make the world’s information more accessible and useful to people all over the globe," Google says. "This includes providing rich local geographic data because, after all, a huge number of search queries have a geographic component. Our efforts to start putting Africa on a map kicked off back in 2009 when we announced the launch of Google Maps for Kenya. Not long afterwords, we announced that users across 45 African countries could build and edit maps in Map Maker. Most recently, we launched Google Maps for South Africa."

With Google Maps launching domains for 30 more countries, that means not only scenery and roads for these countries, but also local business listings, which can drive a lot of business to brick and mortars. Search engines have all but replaced print yellow pages for many people, and businesses in these countries should feel the effects of that as the listings grow.

Google is encouraging users in the new countries to get involved and help them make the maps better. "You know your local area better than we do, which is why Map Maker is on offer. With Map Maker, any user can create or edit map data, ranging from schools to local businesses, national parks to taxi stops. If you know your local area, or you’ve seen something that’s missing, take up the opportunity to get mapping! As we’ve pointed out before, maps are also invaluable for governments, NGOs, universities and entrepreneurs, who can visualise, plan and market the areas and projects that they work on."

Including islands there are now over 50 African counries with Google maps available.

More than a quarter of the world’s population is online and using the Internet, as of 2009. Increasing numbers are opting for high-speed Internet access, with fixed broadband subscriber numbers more than tripling from 150 million in 2004 to a projected 500 million by the end of 2009.

Rapid high-speed Internet growth in the developed world contrasts with the developing world. In Africa, there is only one fixed broadband subscriber for every 1,000 people, compared with Europe where there are 200 subscribers per 1,000 people. The relative price for services (especially broadband) is highest in Africa, the region with the lowest income.

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. *2009 data are estimates.

ITU estimates three quarters of households now own a television and over a quarter of people worldwide now have access to a computer at home.

"We are encouraged to see so much growth across developed and developing regions, but there is still a large digital divide, and an impending broadband divide, which needs to be addressed urgently,"

"Heads of State and industry leaders will collaborate at ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 to identify the right policies and regulations to support and encourage future ICT growth worldwide," said Sami Al Basheer, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau.

‘ITU, through its Development Sector, is working with all stakeholders to promote the development of ICT services for all segments of society in all regions of the world."

Asia will account for 43 percent of the world’s online population by 2013, with 17 percent residing in China.

Growth rates in the U.S., Western Europe, and nations in Asia Pacific such as Australia, Japan, and South Korea will slow to between 1 percent and 3 percent.

Zia Daniell Wigder

Online reach in the U.S. is set to increase from 73 percent to 82 percent over the next five years, representing a 3 percent annual growth rate. By 2013, U.S. online penetration will be par with the most highly penetrated markets of Europe and Asia, including the Netherlands, the U.K., Japan, and South Korea.

Europe’s Internet growth will be driven by the continent’s emerging markets. Internet usage in Russia and Turkey will grow by almost 8 percent annually, while growth in Spain’s online population will increase by an average of more than 5 percent each year.

China’s online population, currently the largest in the world, will increase by nearly 11 percent each year until 2013. Asian countries with significant online growth rates include India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Brazil currently has the fourth largest numbers of Internet users in the world, but despite a 7 percent annual growth rate over the next five years, it will drop to fifth in 2010 when it is surpassed by India.

Countries in the Middle East and Africa account for 8 percent of the global online population and over the next five years will see some of the highest growth rates of around 13 percent. Egypt, Iran, and Nigeria are among the countries with the highest growth rates in the region.

"While per capita online spending is likely to remain highest in North America, Western Europe, and the developed markets of Asia throughout the next five years, the shifting online population and growing spending power among Asian consumers means that Asian markets will represent a far greater percentage of the total in 2013 than they do today," said Forrester Research Senior Analyst Zia Daniell Wigder.

"Multinational organizations must understand the dynamics of the shifting global online population to ensure that they are positioned to take advantage of emerging international opportunities."

Countries With The Most Internet Users: 2008

1. US

2. China

3. Japan

4. Brazil

5. Germany

Countries With The Most Internet Users: 2013

1. China

2. US

3. India

4. Japan

5. Brazil

A post on the Official Google Blog points out that more Africans own phones than computers, and that Africa boasts the world’s highest mobile growth rate, too.  Google SMS should prove much more useful than any sort of optimized website, then.  And here’s an important note: it’s free.

As for what Google SMS is, the post explains that it’s "a suite of mobile applications which will allow people to access information, via SMS, on a diverse number of topics including health and agriculture tips, news, local weather, sports, and more." 

Also, "The suite . . . includes Google Trader, a SMS-based ‘marketplace’ application that helps buyers and sellers find each other.  People can find, ‘sell’ or ‘buy’ any type of product or service, from used cars and mobile phones to crops, livestock and jobs."  And something called Google SMS Tips should use search technology to offer responses to text queries.

Google SMS is only available through the telecommunications company MTN Uganda right now, but the suite’s likely to spread before long.

Swahili is spoken in at least seven countries, including Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda.  A BBC report notes that, following Afrikaans, it’s the second African language in which a version of Facebook’s been released.

As for how this development came about, the BBC states, "A group of Swahili scholars launched the new version with the permission of the California-based internet firm."  And because testing has been underway for some time, "Facebook’s Simon Wanda says they have been monitoring the take-up and says more than 60% of Facebook users in East Africa are already using the Swahili version."

Impressive, right?  This leaves Facebook extremely well-positioned to attract new users as more Africans come online.

Then there’s the detail about possible Hausa and Zulu versions for West Africa and southern Africa, respectively.  Facebook seems to be on its way to establishing a solid user base on the continent.