Happy Social Media Day! In celebration, the #MMIntern team has collected just a few of our favorite things that have come from our beloved social networks. Though these platforms are frequently criticized for negative moments, avid users know how they can be a catalyst for many awesome things. In no particular order, here are just a few examples of social media being used for good:
To Write Love On Her Arms (#TWLOHA)
Sarah Ribeiro
A social media campaign started in the 
LiveJournal/Myspace days to combat suicide, TWLOHA has become a global movement in which those struggling with depression (or those supporting others who are suffering) write the word “love” on their arms to promote visibility and spread the love. The original story turned into a book, which then turned into a film starring Chad Michael Murray. Over the past 10 years, TWLOHA has helped save many lives around the world.
Black-Jaguar White-Tiger Foundation
Kristiana Paterno
Black-Jaguar White-Tiger founder, Eduardo Serio, has harnessed the power of social media to create exposure for his foundation. Currently, BJWT has 5.4 million followers. Thanks to the money Serio initially invested in the foundation, along with the help of its loyal sponsors and donations, BJWT has been able to rescue over 210 jaguars, tigers, leopards, lynxes, lions, pumas, and other species. These helpless creatures are rescued from organizations known to harm animals, such as circuses, zoos, and breeders, both legal and illegal ones.
BJWT has used social media to involve themselves with influencers and generate a larger following base. For example, the foundation used Instagram as a platform to connect with celebrities who have extraordinarily large following bases, like Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Chelsea Handler, Rick Hublot, and many others. By sharing photos taken with them as well as being tagged in their photos, they have successfully found a way to spread the word about this wonderful foundation through social media.
Boston Strong
Emily Carito
Boston Strong is known as the saying that “rallied a city.” This viral campaign began when two Emerson students coined the phrase and made blue and yellow “Boston Strong” t-shirts within hours of the bombings. Since then, Boston Strong has been used on social media more than 1.5 million times, and the campaign has raised millions of dollars for the OneFund to give to the victims of the bombings and their families. Thanks to social media, Boston Strong enabled a broken city to rise from the ashes.
Project for Awesome
Caroline Adler
Project for Awesome, or P4A, is a social media charity campaign that was born on YouTube in 2007 and has since spread across social media. For 48 hours straight in December, online creators and community members upload videos to YouTube advocating for a specific charity. Viewers have the ability to vote for their favorite charities and donate money to the campaign by purchasing perks through IndieGoGo, and the top 20 charities voted for receive a portion of the money raised during P4A. In 2015 alone, Project for Awesome raised over $1.5 million for the charities Save the Children, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and more.
Dancing Man
Caroline Smith
In March of 2015, Sean O’Brien found himself the victim of internet bullying when a picture of him dancing at a concert was posted with the caption “Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing.” The internet wanted nothing to do with this senseless bullying and one Twitter user, Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) made it her mission to find the later dubbed “Dancing Man” and throw a giant dance party in his honor. Fairbanks’ tweet went viral and the internet soon made it their mission to find O’Brien.
Once found, over $40,000 was raised for a dance party held in LA on May 24, 2015. The remaining proceeds went to several anti-bullying organizations. O’Brien was joined by celebrities and other anti-bullying advocates and danced the night away to support body positivity and later even became a guest on “The Today Show.” Although internet bullying still remains a major problem, this viral movement proves that there are still people out there that will fight for what is right!
Ice Bucket Challenge
Maddie Shea
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral in August of 2014 and continues to raise awareness about ALS today. ALS is a progressive degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The origin of the Ice Bucket Challenge can be traced back to Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in March of 2012. The Frates family continues to be very active members in the fight against ALS. The challenge itself consists of dumping ice water on your head and donating to the ALS foundation. You can nominate up to three people to complete the challenge. In August of 2014, the videos began popping up on Facebook and Twitter. According to the ALS website, 17 million people posted videos on Facebook and the foundation raised over $115 million. The ALS Association runs a large campaign every summer to continue to raise awareness for the disease.
#BlackLivesMatter
Emily Carito
The national movement #BlackLivesMatter began during the summer of 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted of shooting and killing Trayvon Martin. This powerful call to action for anti-black racism was founded by Alicia Garza and her sisters Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi as a political intervention towards a society that targets African American lives. Three years later, the movement is still growing; #BlackLivesMatter now serves as a space for the commemoration, equity, and humanization of African Americans.
Social Media for Breaking News
Caroline Adler
Twitter and Facebook have proven to be great places to share viral videos of cute cats and crazy stunts, but now they are proving to be a strong platform for sharing breaking news with the masses. Now, more than ever, social media users are relying on the news outlets to keep them informed and up-to-date on breaking news through their timelines. To help people keep up with the latest news, Twitter recently released Moments, a tool that shows the biggest new stories at the moment that are trending from anywhere in the world. This past week showed the power of live streaming, as a Democratic sit-in was broadcasted and shared through social media on Periscope and Facebook Live when the TV cameras shut off. Without social media and live-streaming technology, the public would have been unable to observe what was going in the House of Representatives.
D-Strong
Kristiana Paterno
#DStrong is a hashtag that united people all across the world in supporting an 8-year-old boy named Dorian Murray, who had fought a long and challenging battle with cancer earlier this year. Dorian’s wish was that before the rhabdomyosarcoma (cancer) took his life, he wanted to be famous. What started off in a small town in Rhode Island became an Instagram hashtag with over 28,000 posts, not including the 127,500 likes Dorian has on Facebook. Thanks to the power of social media, Dorian was able to see his lifelong dream come true before he passed in March of 2016.
Facebook Adapts to Social Changes & Crises
Caroline Smith
When social issues arise, 
movements manifest, or crises strikes, Facebook feels them in full force. The site has made great strides to help support users during the world’s biggest events. A major development announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg on October 16, 2014 was Facebook’s Safety Check, a feature that can be utilized by users in areas of disaster to inform loved ones of their safety.
Examples of when Facebook offered the Safety check was during the Nepal earthquakes, Paris attacks, and most recently the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Along with the Safety Check, Facebook also offers ways for users to support major social movements and tragedies with profile filters. An example is when same-sex marriage was finally legalized in the US; users watched as Facebook turned into a sea of rainbow profile photos as people from around the world showed their joy and support for the LGBTQ community.
He for She
Maddie Shea
He for She is a campaign initiated by UN Women and majorly supported by actress Emma Watson to fight for gender equality. The initiative encourages men and boys to get involved in helping reach gender equality and women’s rights. Emma Watson’s speech at the UN in September 2014 launched the campaign, and quickly, people went to Twitter using #HeforShe in a show of support. Watson also hosted a live Facebook conversation in March of 2015 to talk directly to her fans about the movement and grow support for the campaign.
What’s your favorite social media movement? Is there anything we missed that deserves a shout out? Share with us in the comments below or tweet at us at @MetterMedia.
Metter Media LLC is a Boston-based social media management company that implements community-based, localized social engagement strategies for small businesses and corporations alike. Need help with your social media? Email Lauren today.
