April 7, 2014
I doubt you’d ever think of Zuckerberg strutting his stuff on a high fashion catwalk, but how about a super model owning a social network?
Flame haired super model Lily Cole has done just that, making her first steps into the social media realm with the launch of her new social network and app, Impossible.
Impossible is an online portal focused on “free-giving”. The idea is for people to publish their wishes on a pinterest-esque board. The community can either like, share or comment with help and tips in response, with the user eventually thanking them for their help, wishes can also trend with the use of hashtags.
Cole’s mission is to reignite a culture where helping your fellow man is common place, reversing the every day occurrences of city life such as the “must fit on the already packed train” blood-sport during a hustled commute, a scene all too familiar on windy weekday mornings in South London.
Although the concept of a socially philanthropic gifting community is not entirely new, this is the first time it has reared its head from the dusty corners of the third sector. Sites such as Pimp My Cause have already embraced this idea by building a community of industry professionals offering their specialist services to charities pro-bono, however due to the nature of the concept wider spread growth is stunted at the starting line.
Social philanthropy is a nice idea. In the video above Cole explains that the success of the site relies on the generosity of the community within it, people need to get a sense of remuneration purely out of the warm fuzzy feeling of helping one another. But are there really that many people in society nowadays that get off on helping others that Cole can create a booming online community with this value at its heart? I’d love to think so, but I can’t help but be a little skeptical.
What are your thoughts?