A new national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project throws some light on how technology is being used to build and activate civic and social groups.

I agree with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone that technology alone can’t be an agent of change…“it’s going to be people, it’s going to be humanity.”

That said, the Pew report found that the slice of humanity that is online is more likely to be part of a group than non-Internet users (80% compared to 56%). No big surprise there.

Dig deeper in the report and you’ll find these insights into the gender split is when it comes to what kind of groups men and women are self-selecting for online. A snapshot:

Groups where women were more involved than men:

• Religious or spiritual groups (43% women vs 37% men)
• Consumer groups (26% vs 21%)
• Support groups

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Last week I went to an NTEN event about how nonprofits can take advantage of Foursquare, a mobile app that is gaining about 100,000 new users a week.

At the event, Naveen Selvadurai, one of the founders of Foursquare explained how their invention was driven by a series of questions: “How can we get better at living in our cities?” And, “How can we turn life into a game?”

For uninitiated, here’s how Foursquare works: get to a location and “check in.” Once the app registers where you are, businesses and nonprofits nearby can alert you to special offers — like a discount for frozen yogurt. Like Meetup, it’s also a way to connect with friends in real time. Depending on the number of times you check in, you can earn “badges” or be anointed “Mayor” of that place – which can come with special privileges and…

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CNN recently reported that women make up roughly 70 percent of all volunteer travelers – or people who spend their vacations volunteering in communities far from home.  Experts tell CNN that women choose volunteer vacations for reasons including both altruism and guilt.  The travelers themselves highlight the “emotional involvement and connection that you will never have when you take a regular holiday.” And the fact that women traveling in volunteer programs feel safer than they would traveling alone.

Volunteer vacations are a way to integrate yourself into a community, give and receive while there, and deepen your understanding of something new while doing so.  These themes resonate with the reasons women support given causes and organizations, and also why they are loyal to certain brands.  Beyond the altruism and guilt cited by CNN, volunteer vacations are in many ways an ideal…

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Have you heard of Shoes of Prey?  The custom shoe design site had an explosive experience last week – thanks to a 16-year-old’s YouTube site.  Juicysatr07’s had 450,000 viewers, and combined with a giveaway prize from the company, lured 200,000 to Shoes of Prey’s site, according to PSFK.

How are you adapting to and including new voices in your online marketing?  How do you find the right influencers?

You can learn how to apply every kind of makeup, reorganize your closet, sketch a portrait, and a million other things thanks to the force of young women on YouTube. The tone of the video, the number of YouTube subscribers, and their comments can help you figure out which YouTube lady is the best to help your product, company or organization.  If you have an evening, watch their videos!

Women research their purchases and the…

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Forget “Supermom.” Meet the “Real Mom.” That’s the message behind a recent white paper by Advertising Age and ad giant JWT.

According to authors Marissa Miley and Ann Make, today’s younger generation of Real Moms (Gen Xers and millennials) are similar to their have-it-all Super Mom predecessors insofar as they’re just as busy in their roles as “chief operating officer of the home.” The difference is, they’re more realistic about the push-and-pull dynamic of their multi-tasking lives and less beholden to perfection. Call it the New Pragmatism.

While the paper, which is based on a survey of 870 men and women, is ostensibly geared to consumer marketing, it has important insights for cause-driven communicators, too. Take, for example, these findings into What Real Moms Want:

Put family first: In today’s overscheduled world, Real Moms feel responsibility to create family time. Next time you want a mom to give…

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Have you seen the promos for the “Shine the Light” contest by American Express and NBC Universal?

The campaign, which invited the public to nominate and vote for the “small business story that most inspires them,” wrapped today with the announcement of the winner: Sacred Wind Communications, a telecommunications outfit based in Albuquerque that is working to wire Navajo lands with telephone and Internet access. The company will receive with $100,000 in grant and marketing support.

“Shine the Light” is a great example of a campaign that was not overtly marketed to women as the target audience, but nonetheless capitalized on a number of marketing principles and tactics that appeal to them:

1. You decide: The entire contest was driven by public input, from nominations to voting for the winner – the principle of putting women in CONTROL in action.

2. iVillage: This women-oriented online entity, which NBC…

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