As the 10 year anniversary of college student Mathew Shephard's death approaches, who was killed as a result of a gay hate crime, the Matthew Shepard Foundations is calling for people to join their Campaign to Erase Hate.
"This campaign provides tools on how to spread the message of “erasing hate” by using innovative technology, viral marketing, personal relationships and the power of “personal voice” to create social change," according to the Foundation's website.
I think that the Campaign is moving in the right direction in utilizing social media to spread the word and engage users. Through a sign-up page on the website, users are able to create their own page to support the campaign, which allows for a number of unique possibilities. In doing this, the Foundation is able to start a conversation among those who have strong feelings towards this issue and maybe even engage users that weren't initially aware, but want to take part in the Campaign. This is a great way to raise awareness because people can get information from other people just like them that are passionate about the issue rather than relying on only information published on the webpage.
I think the most important thing that the Campaign advocates is the power of "personal voice," which is definitely true in the social media world.
2 comments:
I think that this is a really neat campaign. First of all, I am shocked that it has been ten years since this happened and secondly, I am glad that people are remembering how horrible it was and taking action. I agree with you on the fact that personal voice is definitly the most powerful tool! Nothing could be more powerful than one's own thoughts and expressions. I hope that this campaign goes well and that the word is spread. Using social media as a toool is a smart move for this day and age because of the ever progressing technology.
This is a great example of the positive effects of online campaigning. Social media does a much better, much more efficient job of bringing people together to be a part of these crucial conversations, in this case, for social change.
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