How can we leverage the power of internet community networks to limit the personal damage from the economic downturn?

How about... Convince people to spend money. I think this is the best way to turn this around. Convince people to invest in themselves as well as cycle the money locally.

I think this is the best way. You can twitter how you're feeling good about the economy turning around and that you want to help in your small way. You can write a note in Facebook about how you think that NOT spending will only make things worse.It's amazing to me how much economics is driven by emotions.

If you keep your emotions positive, then positive things happen.

I think the best use of social networking is to share how we're all coping with trying economic times. For instance, we turned mandatory state furloughs here into "Furlough Friday" potlucks, minimizing the cost of getting together and still having fun. Now that will be changed to "Floating Free day" (how untethered does THAT sound?) We can also use blogs and social networks to teach each other how to garden or cook or any other useful skill.

We can also share events, resources, transportation - almost anything. Recently I was able to connect a man who had been recently widowed and a former-realtor housekeeper to their mutual benefit. He was finding housekeeping a huge chore, she isn't wild about spending spare cash for advertising.

Although I'm not into sharing happy talk just for the sake of dispelling the notion the economy is getting better (I had enough of that dreck as we were sliding down into this hole! ), I do look at this as an opportunity for people to get past being passive consumers and do things for themselves. There's really nothing like that feeling of "I don't need to rely on someone else to make or modify this - I can do it if I need to!

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.