activism

Today MTV launched Act.MTV.com. The pro-social website seeks to engage its readers on many different levels by using unexpected approaches that resonate with the younger generation. MTV believes that “every action counts,” and hopes that Act will help motivate its audience to take action around the issues that matter to them. The question on everyone's mind will be whether or not MTV’s audience will be able to move from shows such as Jersey Shore to taking action in defense of animals losing their habitats?

The website will cover many different issues, including: digital health, jobs, social innovation, sexual abuse and education, just to name a few. Visiting the site you will find stories on everything from pop culture’s intersection with the pro-social and “how-to” columns focused on topics such as recycling, voting, volunteering and petitions; to “day in the life” style pieces focused on a young nonprofit leader and the work that they are doing. Being MTV of course, the creators are also developing connections to music, such as creating video playlists for issues.

Act.MTV.com hopes to spark action among youth by fulfilling three key roles:

• Digital Presence:  Promote simple and quick ways for people to get involved with social issues that are relevant to its audience.

• Stories:  Celebrate the stories of young people, celebrities and nonprofits that are making an impact on pressing social issues. As master storytellers, MTV is in a unique position to share personal and provocative stories with its audience like no other.

• Matchmaker:  Connect those who may be disengaged with the organizations, people and tools that they need to help them take action.

With integration of the site across multiple MTV platforms, including: MTV news, mobile, events, consumer products, and the social web, I believe Act.MTV.com’s messages will have a pretty good chance of getting to the right people. According to Act’s creators, they want the site to be, “informative without being preachy, and integrate humor and creativity where possible… when we do critique, we focus on solutions, not the problem.”

Think Again?

This is not MTV’s first foray into the online activism space. MTV launched a website called Think.MTV.com in 1997 that according to Reuters, was “designed to be a resource for social and political issues, aiming to inform as well as let users connect with other like-minded people on issues from the environment to sexual health and discrimination.” Several foundations helped MTV develop this site, including the Case Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Amelior Foundation. The site is still live, but with the launch of Act.MTV.com it appears that MTV is trying a new approach to engaging its audience—and if all goes well an entire generation.

Lesson Learned

MTV debuted in 1981 and in those formative years was a very different beast than today’s MTV—as are its viewers. In particular, MTV’s hold on, and influence of, the younger audience has appeared to wane at times as audiences changed. MTV Networks chief executive, Judy McGrath was quoted in a recent New York Times piece as saying that MTV “should be the ‘forever young network,’ [but] had clung to Generation X a little too long, some believed, at the expense of the Millennials.”

It is clear that MTV is actively reinventing itself to better reach Millennials. Through MTV’s research about the Millennial generation, MTV spokespeople noted that “teenagers and twentysomethings nowadays were less rebellious than those in the past. They are not rebelling against their parents so much as they are watching TV with their parents.” With research in hand, MTV is keen on reworking itself, including its shows, and from the look of it, Act.MTV.com.

The Right Place, Right Time?

I think MTV is on to something here and that there is great potential for Act to really resonate with younger generations. The site is fresh, engaging and does what it sets out to do... all while keeping things somewhat entertaining, light and maintaining the fundamental essence of MTV.

Have you visited the site? What do you think of Act?  Is Act's belief that "every action counts" valid?  Is there value in promoting small acts of good, or is this just a way to placate Millennials and the younger generation?

MTV launched Act.MTV.com today. The pro-social website seeks to engage its readers on many different levels by using unexpected approaches that resonate with the younger generation. MTV believes that “every action counts,” and hopes that Act will help motivate its audience to take action around the issues that matter to them. 

The website will cover many different issues, including: digital health, jobs, social innovation, sexual abuse and education, just to name a few. Visiting the site you will find stories on everything from pop culture’s intersection with the pro-social and “how-to” columns focused on topics such as recycling, voting, volunteering and petitions; to “day in the life” style pieces focused on a young nonprofit leader and the work that they are doing. Being MTV of course, the creators are also developing connections to music, such as creating video playlists for issues.

Act.MTV.com hopes to spark action among youth by fulfilling three key roles:

• Digital Presence:  Promote simple and quick ways for people to get involved with social issues that are relevant to its audience.

• Stories:  Celebrate the stories of young people, celebrities and nonprofits that are making an impact on pressing social issues. As master storytellers, MTV is in a unique position to share personal and provocative stories with its audience like no other.

• Matchmaker:  Connect those who may be disengaged with the organizations, people and tools that they need to help them take action.

With integration of the site across multiple MTV platforms, including: MTV news, mobile, events, consumer products, and the social web, I believe Act.MTV.com’s messages will have a pretty good chance of getting to the right people. According to Act’s creators, they want the site to be, “informative without being preachy, and integrate humor and creativity where possible… when we do critique, we focus on solutions, not the problem.”

Think Again?

This is not MTV’s first foray into the online activism space. MTV launched a website called Think.MTV.com in 1997 that according to Reuters, was “designed to be a resource for social and political issues, aiming to inform as well as let users connect with other like-minded people on issues from the environment to sexual health and discrimination.” Several foundations helped MTV develop this site, including the Case Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Amelior Foundation. The site is still live, but with the launch of Act.MTV.com it appears that MTV is trying a new approach to engaging its audience—and if all goes well an entire generation.

Time to Move On?

Looking at the bigger picture, MTV debuted in 1981 and in those formative years was a very different beast than today’s MTV—as are its viewers. In particular, MTV’s hold on, and influence of, the younger audience has appeared to slip. MTV Networks chief executive, Judy McGrath was quoted in a recent New York Times piece as saying that MTV “should be the ‘forever young network,’ [but] had clung to Generation X a little too long, some believed, at the expense of the Millennials.”

Lesson learned. MTV has been actively reinventing itself to better reach Millennials. Through MTV’s research about the Millennial generation, MTV spokespeople noted that “teenagers and twentysomethings nowadays were less rebellious than those in the past. They are not rebelling against their parents so much as they are watching TV with their parents.” With research in hand, MTV is keen on reworking itself, including its shows, and from the look of it, Act.MTV.com.

The Right Place, Right Time?

I think MTV is on to something here and that there is great potential for Act to really resonate with younger generations. The site is fresh, engaging and does what it sets out to do, all while keeping things somewhat entertaining, light and maintaining the fundamental essence of MTV.

Have you visited the site? What do you think of Act? Do you think MTV’s audience will be able to move from shows such as Jersey Shore to taking action in defense of animals losing their habitat? Is there value in promoting small acts of good, or is this just a way to placate Millennials and the younger generation? Is Act's belief that "every action counts" valid?

Every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria. Nets save lives. So do retweets. RT2Give $10 http://rt2give.com/t/425

The messaging is so powerful, so clear, and so tweetable – and with the World Bank’s bold announcement yesterday that they are stepping in to fill half of the 50 million “bed net gap,” the Case Foundation together with Malaria No More and Twitter thought there was no better time to launch a citizen driven campaign using the powerful force of the 100 Million users on Twitter.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

• At present 200 million mosquito bed nets have been delivered across sub-Saharan Africa, affording protection to half of the world's population at risk of malaria.  
• 100 million more bed nets are in the process of being produced and delivered, leaving a 50 million bed net gap to meet the United Nations Secretary-General's goal of universal coverage by year's end.  
• Every thirty seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa. However, malaria is a completely preventable and treatable disease.
• There are approximately 50 million "tweets" sent across the twitterverse each day
  

On Wednesday, the UN Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers, appointed a group of 50 Social Media Envoys dedicated to utilizing their social profile to keep online and offline media audiences focused on the movement, milestones and resources required to achieve the Secretary-General's goal of providing all endemic African countries with malaria control interventions by the end of 2010. From Kim Kardashian and Shaq to Bill Gates and Steve Case, these social media influencers are stepping up to use their collective 50 million person following for social change.

We saw the recent power of "texting to give" to the tune of $35 million raised through a variety of campaigns related to the tragic earthquake in Haiti.  These campaigns were a game changer for how we use mobile to respond to crises.   Now together through the powerful combination of tweeting to give and texting to give - we can educate, raise awareness, and help eradicate Malaria for the world’s most vulnerable.

So what can Social Citizens do to show their support and become social media envoys among their own networks? Please visit hope140.org/endmalaria and:

•  Tweet this message to make a $10 donation to Malaria No More: Every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria. Nets #endmalaria. So do retweets. RT2Give $10 http://rt2give.com/t/425 ( If you already have an account through Twitpay, you’ll receive a direct message from @Twitpay asking for confirmation. If you don’t have an account, @Twitpay will send you an @reply message with simple instructions on how to enroll).
• Text ‘NET’ to 85944 to make a $10 donation to Malaria No More. (A $10 donation will be charged to your mobile phone bill. Messaging and data rates may apply)
• Add hashtag(s) #endmalaria, #malaria, #malariaday and/or #worldmalariaday to your tweets and the hastags will trigger the addition of  clickable mosquito icons to the tweet that will take you to hope140.org/endmalaria

The Case Foundation will be matching every ten dollar donation now through April 27 up to $25,000.  The “End Malaria” effort is an extension of last year’s World Malaria Day Twitter challenge between Ashton Kutcher and CNN for a race to 1 million followers. Kutcher’s pledge of $100,000 to Malaria No More catapulted him to success and helped provide Senegal with 89,724 life-saving mosquito nets.

Social change agents of all generations are embracing social media and applying it to their causes, and the Millennial Generation is beginning to own it as the mode of activism that fits them. Social media has helped equip our generation with options beyond striking, boycotting and marching for our causes, as well as made it easier to organize some of these more traditional events. At the same time, there is some concern that this is also encouraging a less committed virtual bumper sticker era of activism.

One of our favorite things about our work is learning how Social Citizens are using their creativity, idealism, and digital fluency to support their causes every day. To share some of these great stories, we're starting a new series called "Social Citizen Sightings." If you see a Social Citizen, we would love to hear about what they're doing too. Just fill out this quick form with their name, affiliation and 150 words or less on what makes them a Social Citizen.

Call+Response is a film that uses music and prominent cultural and political figures to draw attention to the reality that there are more slaves today than ever before. The film’s director, Justin Dillon, is now focusing on using the film to promote community-based activism to abolish slavery. Justin, the subject of our first Social Citizen Sighting, spent a few minutes talking with me about his background, his work, and his vision for Call+Response.

Name: Justin Dillon

If you had to describe yourself in one tweet, what would it be? @justindillon social justice anarchist//change flows from the bottom up

Most recent ipod playlist: Jeff Buckley, Delta Spirit, the Ting Tings…and a few guilty pleasures from Lady Gaga

What are you reading: Muhammad Yunus’s Creating A World Without Poverty

You’ve said you never intended to make a film, so how did you end up creating a documentary to respond to modern-day slavery?
I don’t tend to think in purely linear forms, and that’s found its way into the way we work at Fair Trade Pictures and Fairtrade Fund. We very seldom look for permission and then move. I tend to move forward and then look for the resources to make it work. I’m not saying that’s the way everyone should be, but when you’re trying to do something as audacious as making a film, or more important, making a difference, it’s really hard to find permission, approval and resources right off the bat.

I think that style of working comes from being a songwriter. You know you want to create something that says a certain thing or creates a certain feeling, so you sit down with your piano or guitar and work it.  But once you bring it to the band, it’s always something different than what you started with, and that’s what happened with the film. I knew I needed to point a large part of my life to this injustice because I couldn’t get it out of my head. I was flabbergasted that this was going on and that the general public knew nothing about it. To me, this issue just seemed solvable.   It’s an issue of focus, and if enough people focus on it, it will change.

I started with what I know, which is music.  I believe in its power not just to amuse and entertain, but to inspire and create aspiration in other. The goal early on was to get the music community/business to start focusing on this, which initially led to filming some artists. Then I realized we needed more than just music, we should explain the issue, which led to some undercover work. It just kept building on itself, and about a year into the project, I realized this was a film. It’s never been my goal to be a filmmaker, but a theater was the most obvious connecting point and place for people to experience something like this.

We put the film out in 31 theaters, and it became one of the top documentaries last year. And we did it all with volunteers. That’s an unbelievable feat, but the part of the story that I like is that we were all focused on one thing. We weren’t just focused on simply expressing ourselves or pursuing a career in film.  It was about needing to tell a story and needing this to become bigger than us or our efforts. And that’s what drove the making of the film and what drove the hundreds, no thousands, of people who got behind promoting the film – that was as much the story as the making of the film.

Throughout the past year, we have witnessed unprecedented levels of civic engagement. But for some the interest and excitement around the political process seemed to trail off after the November 4 Election -- and for others in January after the historic inauguration of President Obama.  

As I noted in a post a few days ago, Sally Kohn wrote an editorial that was published in the Christian Science Monitor arguing that online activism is limited in its potential for impacting large-scale social change. I among others disagreed with her assessment. Sally responded yesterday in a thorough and thoughtful post on Daily Kos.

I am glad to see her articulate that social change encompasses both online and on land activism. I have always believed this, and most folks I know who are passionate about social change believe it as well. However, the key sentence that led me to push back against her argument is exacerbated in her old-style thinking about social change.