Creating Content Around Social Good

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Social Media & Social Good: Creators to The Rescue hosted by AdCouncil’s Lina Renzina, this panel focused on YouTube personalities: Tyler Oakley and Hannah Hart. Two individuals who created a following, a platform, and a voice during the rise of the online video platform. YouTube’s own, Lucinda Barlow, also joined to talk about social good from the business side. The panel was lighthearted and filled with anecdotes, examples of the various campaigns, and all around encouragement to get out there and make a difference through your brand, business, social media platform, or you as an individual.

Ad Council is a non-profit company who has been producing some of the most iconic social campaigns over the past 75 years think Smokey the Bear. Their campaigns and focused on texting and driving to mental health and are all targeted for different audiences across the country. Ad Council’s goal is to work with talent who are passionate about an issue. Cue Tyler Oakley and Hannah Hart who worked with Ad Council on mental health in a campaign called Seize the Awkward.

Tyler Oakley talked about his focus on social change was more geared towards LGBTQ+ issues because, as he said, “gay!” Last June during pride month, he released his own series called Chosen Family which was centered around the queer culture, issues within the community, body image, and getting voices heard. Chosen Family created a name, a face, a voice for a younger generation to look up to and to find someone like them.

Hannah Hart admitted that every cause is a worthy cause. Trying to decipher where to spend your energy is difficult and you can run into the danger of spreading yourself too thin. Hence why she created a campaign that would allow everyone within their community to reach out to someone or something that matter’s to them. Have a Hart Day. Her ultimate goal is achieved by having people within their communities to get into the habit of being consciously and mindfully aware of other people.

Something that was brought up towards the end of the panel was how to avoid hate speech and rhetoric on YouTube platforms as it relates to someone trying to marginalize a group of people based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. This type of hate speech can come in the form of the video content itself or the comments left by other people. Since YouTube populates videos based on an algorithm, it’s as simple as not watching the video and avoiding the content altogether. Don’t give in to that hateful rhetoric. YouTube works hard to remove hateful content and comments but sometimes videos still populate and get traction. Hannah Hart made a great statement, “every platform should be a safe space… the Internet is boundless.” We should continue to hold people accountable for their words and actions. Just because someone states it doesn’t mean we have to embrace it.

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