Peter Levine, from Tufts University, mentioned TIG in his latest blog post on youth civic engagement. He asks a really pertinent question:

"I wondered why these other groups couldn't just use Facebook or MySpace?"

Well there are a number of reasons why TIG exists outside of the larger social networks out there. For one, having a separate community allows us to reach out to a specific group of young people who are engaged in their community and are leading the way in making social change. Another reason is that those sorts of networks tend to replicate your off-line (read: pre-existing) social circles - whereas TIG has a focus on introducing our members to people all around the world, to learn about different cultures etc. Of course you can do all of these things on Facebook - and many organizations do - but perhaps one of the reasons why TIG doesn't just migrate into Facebook is that...well...we were here first! When Facebook launched in 2004, we were already well on our way to being a leading social network for social change.

Ultimately, my belief is that cause-focused NGOs should use all the available networks and Web 2.0 tools that are available. Whether TIG, Facebook, Twitter or Flikr, each offers something unique and different - and by utilizing them all, will an NGO be successful in spreading their message.