Photo courtesy of MTV's Power of 12
In this special series, we’ll take a brief look at various different fearless inspirations from the past week or so. Whether it’s a fearless young change maker who is taking risks, a new publication that expresses bold and innovative ideas, or an organization that is promoting change and that is not afraid to fail forward—we want to shine a spotlight on them and their work in the hope that it will spark a new movement to Be Fearless.
As Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation wrote in a recent thought piece, “The old way of doing things is simply no longer effective in this new world. It’s time for us all to take risks on new ideas, approaches, and initiatives. It’s time for us to be bold, to act with urgency, and to resist the tendency to let caution be our guide. It’s time for us to Be Fearless.” Will you join us?
An Image is Worth a Thousand Words
We’re really excited about MTV’s new “Power Pics” tool and how it can give voice to the next generation of voters leading up to this year’s Presidential elections.
“MTV's Power of 12 wants to see what issues are on your mind this election year. So we created a snazzy new tool called Power Pics. Upload a photo and fill in the caption "I will use my power... " See what starts to surface in the zeitgeist. You can upload photos all year until election day too… You can voice your strength in a general way, with a sort of, "I will use my power to create change."
Be Fearless and post your picture today!
Sparking a Meme Culture War
The Internet has provided us seemingly endless streams of information and access to new content, but with that flood of information also comes issues of misuse and abuse of content. Mashable recently reported on a story that began in 2009 when “a photo of a baby with down syndrome was taken from a support group website and turned into a controversial Internet meme. That child — now 16 years old — is Heidi Crowter, and Heidi just discovered what the entire Internet has been saying about her photo, according to The Sun.”
According to the author, “Heidi’s family and friends have attempted to fight the meme by creating a Facebook page to raise awareness, and asking people to take the image down… The issue has spiraled from a distasteful meme to the Internet’s distasteful reaction, to a family asking for sympathy.
There are millions of people who don’t understand how web culture works, or how memes travel — there are also plenty of people who don’t care.
This story in particular highlights the divide between people who understand Internet culture and those who seek to fight it. Many Redditors have pointed out that Internet users have the right to disseminate content, however distasteful. It’s a free speech issue, and the mainstream media’s portrayal of ‘Internet trolls’ oversimplifies a complex discussion.”
How can we learn from these types of online conflicts and what can be done to prevent future abuses?