I found this article from The Guardian interesting.  You can’t debate it.  The Internet has given people a platform for anonymously spewing negativity and vitriol in a way they most likely wouldn’t when faced with a ‘real human.’

Psychologists call it ‘deindividuation’ – what happens when social norms are withdrawn because identities are concealed.  It’s covert bullying, and it sucks. If you’re a parent of a kid who uses SM and dig into it, you’ll see it firsthand.

But I have found myself inspired by so many stories of how the Internet has been the vehicle for bringing people together for good.

I was struck by a story of a family who, after finding a paystub with someone’s identification hundreds of miles away from the site of a Midwest tornado, used the Internet to track down its owner, formed a relationship and lent assistance to a family who had lost all.  Similarly, I was blown away by the support that poured in to help Bertie County when @ProjectHDesign put the call out to their followers.

Then, there’s the Japan Earthquake that yielded too many social media miracles to count.  There’s organizations like Kiva. Social good websites aimed at kids. Even a program we helped create: 1 Million 4 Anna

There are two sides to every coin.  Here, both are readily evident.

The Internet has changed how we communicate: the way you use it, the way you teach your kids and companies to use it, can change the world…and each of us too.

A little over a year ago, we launched the 1Million4Anna website.  An online and social movement dedicated to my dear friend and neighbor, Anna Basso.  At 16, she was stricken with a rare form of cancer, in November of 2009.  The movement was the result of the very caring and talented people here at the agency.  I have been moved to tears many times by the people here, for all of the heart and soul they have put forth on behalf of this beautiful young girl.

The goal, as the name suggests, was to raise 1 million prayers for Anna.  The concept based upon a joining together of all of us to unite in prayer each day at 12:12.  A time selected as a part of the concept to align with Roman’s 12:12.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

In addition, 12:12 allowed us to pray at the same time to show our solidarity, as Matthew 18:20 says,

“Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

We asked for people to pray at the same time as a symbol that we have “come together” in His name.

Well, on June 1, 2011, it happened.  We recorded our 1,000,000 prayer.  It was an amazing milestone and accomplishment.  I am thrilled to have been a part of this and so happy that there has been this very real and tangible evidence for Anna to see and feel as she continues on this difficult journey.

Like a child, I wanted throughout to count on this milestone, this movement to fix sweet Anna.  To magically make the cancer go away.  In exchange for these prayers and this dedication we would get what we want – our friend, cousin, niece, sister, our daughter healthy and active and able to resume her normal teenage years, so rudely interrupted by this hideous disease.

In a word, I wanted it to “work.”

Alas, my heart is so heavy as I write this, but that is not how this will work.  Anna still has cancer.  In fact, it has advanced.  And it is relentless.  And we now know that medicine will be unable to stop it.

We didn’t change Anna.

Instead, she changed us.  Whether she is with us for one more day or one more century, thousands have been changed because of Anna.

Because of her life, her battle, her struggle, thousands have been united for her, in God’s name.  And we will never be the same.  Because of her, we have seen God’s grace.  In her beautiful manner.  Her charm, her wit, her strength.  She has drawn so many to her, and if there is a miracle at work here, we may not see it right away.  But, those of us so deeply affected by her struggle will not be able to deny a feeling that we have now seen Christ in others and many of us now hope to live in a way that allows others to more readily see Christ in us.

We have also been reminded that there are no guarantees.  You are not entitled to tomorrow.  So, when your time here is done, ask yourself, will thousands be so deeply affected?  Will millions of prayers be lifted up on your behalf?  If so, you will have accomplished much, you will have lived a beautiful life.

And know that you will be in excellent company.

While we appreciate whenever our peers recognize the work we do, this award just validates the work we are so proud to be a part of. A year ago today, Firehouse launched the 1 Million 4 Anna initiative with the simple goal of getting 1 million prayers for Anna Basso, our agency founder’s neighbor, as she battles Ewing’s Sarcoma. We knew Anna had an expert team behind her from Children’s Medical Center, but we also wanted to find a way encourage her through the power of prayer as she fought this tough battle.

One year later, Anna continues her brave fight, and we are up to 840,000 prayers and counting. We are so thankful to have the campaign honored this year and special thanks to the award show hosts, Chris Smith and James Hering, who did a great job of telling our story during the show. Because we launched 1 Million 4 Anna on the same day as last year’s DFWIMA Awards, the wonderful board members were kind enough to let us set up a table on site at this year’s event to help event attendees sign up at http://www.1millionprayers.com. We were so thankful for the great audience response to the 1 Million 4 Anna story and we’re excited to launch another push as we near the 1 million prayer milestone.

We haven’t quite reached a million, but we are getting closer. Please check out the site and “pledge” to pray everyday at 12:12 p.m. for Anna. Thanks again to DFWIMA for this great honor and to all the people who bring us closer to 1 Million 4 Anna everyday.

Our goal was to not only give some money to a great hospital, but also raise the prayer count on www.1millionprayers.com. Every day, Anna continues her battle and we continue to pray, with over 700,000 prayers and counting. As we approach the 1-year anniversary of launching this initiative on April 22, 2011, we hope to reach our goal of 1 million prayers for Anna.

Darah Bonham from Abolish Cancer helped kick off the Twitterthon bright and early on the morning of February 18^th. We would love to thank all the people who helped out by following @abolishcancer, retweeting the message and getting others involved in our goal. Although we started off slow in reaching 500, our momentum kept growing throughout the day. We were lucky enough to receive tweets and retweets from diverse Twitter users, including actresses like Angie Harmon, bands like Eli Young Band, and professional athletes, including Jermichael Finely and Michael Huff. We also received a lot of help (and tweets) from Anna’s sister, Patrice, and Children’s Medical Center.

Although we often use Twitter ourselves and for our clients, it was really awesome to see how this tool can be put to great use. We have been able to use technology to create a virtual prayer chain for Anna that reaches all over the world and find new ways to get our message to new audiences quickly.

We reached our goal around 7:00 PM on Friday night. The generous community of John Paul II High School, Anna’s school, also matched our donation to Children’s with a donation of their own.

Again, we are so thankful to Darah for starting this amazing movement to unite all charities, organizations and people to abolish cancer. In sixteen months, Darah has helped raise over $51,000 for cancer research just through tweeting.

We also want to thank Children’s Medical Center for continually providing expert care for Anna and all the other children battling cancer.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in our Twitterthon. We could not have reached our goal without your effort. Please keep praying and encouraging others to promise  to pray on the top left corner of her website.

Stay strong, Anna! We are still praying (and tweeting) for you!

Last Thursday, something bigger than words can describe started here at Firehouse. It’s an initiative born out of Mark’s belief that big ideas can make a difference, and that the power of prayer is, well, powerful – and can be life changing.

Anna Basso is a 16-year-old girl who lives in Dallas and whose family also lives next door to Mark – they have been neighbors for 10 years. She’s been battling Stage 4 Ewing’s Sarcoma (a rare type of bone cancer) since November 2009 and has a tough fight ahead.

Anna has become an inspiration to us all, and while she is getting terrific medical care, it’s going to take more than that to help her win this fight.

To encourage Anna in her battle against cancer, the agency set a lofty goal of getting one million prayers for her. It all comes together at http://www.1millionprayers.com, where friends, family and even strangers are pledging to pray for Anna and sending their collective goodwill her way.

Please join us in supporting this amazing young woman, day in and day out. A special time has been set aside every day to pray – 12:12 p.m. This time is a direct reference to Romans 12:12 – Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Anna can really feel the strength of each individual behind her.

Pledge to pray for Anna on the website (1millionprayers.com), and help us spread the word via Facebook and Twitter (#1million4anna).

This news clip does a great job of telling the story of the 1 Million 4 Anna project, with footage from a party we hosted for Anna on April 22.