I’m going to stick my nose into the Feldman/Israel situation. Sort of. Actually, I’m going to suggest a better use of everyone’s time. It would be for a charitable cause and it would promote social media to boot. Everyone wins.

If anyone is wondering who Loren Feldman or Shel Israel are and what the big deal is about them, Mathew Ingram has written a good summary of their situation. Suffice it to say that the two have exchanged words in public forums and both claims that the other has done hurtful things that have caused different kinds of harm. And puppets were involved.

So there’s a lot of talk, discussion, banter, commentary, analysis, hand-wringing, head-scratching, screaming, etc. that’s been going on over this whole situation. Amidst all of this, Loren has purchased the shelisrael.com domain name and has organized a Shel Israel Council of Web Relations to decide what should happen to the domain name (i.e. give it to Shel free of charge or… not, I guess).

It’s great entertainment and theatre. It’s got people talking. You can hear the popcorn popping in the background and the beer steins clinking. The Legionnaires are sharpening their swords.

It’s also an incredible waste of time and resources.

Loren is apparently organizing this global council meeting on July 25 to decide the fate of the Shel Israel domain name.

This Broadcasting Brain from a small town in Canada is issuing a challenge to these gentlemen and their council members:

If you insist on having this July 25 council, do something constructive and charitable with it.:

  • Turn it into a fundraising campaign.
  • Pick an important issue, promote the crap out of it, and use the July 25 event as the climax of a massive fundraising campaign. Think “Frozen Peas” fund as an example; find a good cause and raise money for it.
  • Use your access, influence, and celebrity to make a really big deal of out it. Publicly bury the hatchet and unite in the name of this charity. Pick something like literacy, poverty, the Red Cross, or something and do some good with this social media power that you all have.
  • Show the world that something constructive can be done with social media on a big scale.

Or have this spectacle, then go have some drinks later. Whatever. You’re mature, responsible adults. You can figure out the best thing to do. Meanwhile, those less fortunate will continue on with their own lives, oblivious to this hollow spectacle.

And in the end, who cares who slighted whom? Aren’t there bigger things to worry about? Plus, if both Feldman, Israel, and the various A-List bloggers and other social media personalities involved all put their weight behind this, just think of all of the money you could raise and good publicity that you do for worthy causes AND show the world that there’s a constructive, powerful use for social media? You’ll all look good.

EDIT (June 28/08) – well, something has changed. Loren Feldman took down the “global council” post (you’ll get a 404 link now) and has replaced it with this public statement to Shel Israel. I guess July 25 is off. Oh well.

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