We sometimes forget that Facebook can be used for more than just snooping on your old high school crush. Facebook is a powerful social networking tool that can leverage its numbers for good.

Facebook, Opower and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently unveiled a social energy app to help people reduce their energy use. The app, Opower, wants to raise peoples’ awareness about energy consumption by comparing energy usage between friends and then encouraging them to set goals and compete with each other to lower their usage.

According to NRDC, improvements in energy efficiency would save the US $700 billion in energy costs, but it’s been hard to motivate people to take action. Behavioral research shows that people tend to change their behavior when they find out how they’re doing compared to their peers. Continue reading →

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