Together

Every now and then, a blipper comes up with an idea or suggestion so good we have to do something about it. Twigs had precisely such an idea at the start of the year and got in touch to see if we could help make it happen. In her own words:

"Maybe it's the new year that's brought on a bit of a dose of melancholy - near-miss airline bombers, 5-year anniversary of tsunami, crazy gunman and so on - but blip is the place I come to feel positive about all the good people in the world, all the great things they do and all the love they share.

"The proposal: on an agreed date as many blippers as possible post exactly the same blip - a shot of themselves standing with arms outstretched, 'holding hands' with each of their global next door neighbours."

Judging by the reaction she got when she suggested it in the forums, many of you think it's as good an idea as we do. In fact, we think it's so inspired that it should be extended to a week-long special assignment called, simply, 'Together' and include images of people outside the Blip community. We also think it should climax with a global Blip-party a week from now...

So, shall we make it happen?

Good. Here's the plan:

1. Between now and midday GMT next Friday (22 January) we want you to take and upload as many pictures as you can, exactly like the one above. Photograph yourself, your family, the people you work with or strangers in the street - in short, anyone you can rope into taking part, but make sure there's only one person in each picture.

2. Before uploading, crop your photo so it's square and make sure the hands are positioned half way down the picture, extending just out of frame (again, just like the above).

3. Tag your entries 'bliptogether'.

(Points 2 and 3 are really important - if you don't follow these instructions, we won't be able to include them in the next bit. If you need any help, leave a comment below or ask in the forums.)

4. On the afternoon of Friday 22nd (again, GMT), you'll be able to download a special, purpose-built piece of Blip software called 'Altogether' which will automatically join up the images submitted and present them on your screen through a super-stylish interface.

5. On Saturday the 23rd (a week from now), we want you to use the software and find a way to celebrate all the good things about Blipfoto and the world... Take over your local bar or art gallery, get a couple of video projectors sorted out and cover the walls with the images and throw a party. Hook a video projector up to a car battery and create an outdoor exhibition in a public space. Invite some friends round for dinner, or just pour yourself a cup of tea and watch all the hands joining up on your laptop.

What you do is up to you, but make sure you have fun and make sure you blip it!

Here in Edinburgh, our friends at New Media Scotland have given us the coolest space in town for our local event. We're all going to be there and you're all invited - in person or, providing we can get all the wires plugged into the right places, by live streaming video. More details on that soon, but if you're in or near Edinburgh cancel any plans you had for next Saturday evening and come along.

This could be massive - there's the potential to collect thousands of images from around the world over the next week, but its success is entirely up to the community. If you're taking part, please help make sure everyone else knows about it - link back here from your entries and tell all your blip friends about it (including those we might not have seen for a while). If you fancy organising a meet up, use the forums to organise yourself.

Any questions, drop them below. If not, let's get together and make this happen!