Social media often calls on us for action, sometimes it’s for prayers, sometimes it’s to boycott, and other times its to support a cause. When I analyzed the #PrayFor movements, I concluded that raising awareness is great, but does little to further a cause when we stop after solely hitting the retweet button and move on.

In a little over a month from now just after our great annual tradition of stuffing our faces with turkey, we will be asked to shop small for #SmallBusinessSaturday. Ironically this “shopping holiday” is an idea created by multibillion-dollar credit card issuer American Express, but I believe in the root cause and without their support and advertising budget, the true small business may not have been able to create, organize, and implement something of this nature.

There are various forms of this social advocacy movement stemming from the #ShopSmall and #SmallBusinessSaturday monikers.

#BuyLocal	#ShopLocal	#DrinkLocal	#ThinkLocal	#SupportSmallBusiness
#FollowFriday	#BrewLocal	#SmallBiz	#Mom&Pop	#MadeInNY (or others)

The best part of this social call to action is that it is extremely easy to support. Here in the greater NYC area, we have tons of small businesses with a bodega every few blocks and it is probably harder to find a chain restaurant in most neighborhoods than a public bathroom.

It doesn’t need to be #SmallBusinessSaturday for you to #ShopSmall. When supporting small businesses in your community the money goes directly back into the community and that’s a social cause I can get behind and you should too!

Red Hook’s famous BBQ spot	1 year anniversary can
Michelin star beer bar.	Locally Roasted every Monday