We’ve written about how to make a successful viral video before, but how do you create a movement around videos? That was Dan Savage’s challenge when he set out to create a campaign directed at bullied homosexual youth. He didn’t just want to make one video, he wanted to create a way for as many people as possible to let young gay people know that life does get better. By empowering others to use their own voice, Savage has harnessed the power of emotional contagion and spread his message like wildfire.
According to The New York Times, The “It Gets Better” idea came to Savage, 46, while he was riding the AirTrain shuttle to Kennedy International Airport and thinking about Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old from Indiana who committed suicide last September after being bullied by his peers. Savage had blogged about the suicide, and a reader wrote: “My heart breaks for the pain and torment you went through, Billy Lucas. I wish I could have told you that things get better.” Savage felt the same way, but didn’t know how to spread the message. He spoke at colleges regularly, but not middle or high schools. “I would never get permission,” he said.
Then he realized: “I was waiting for permission that – in the era of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook – I didn’t need anymore.”
Savage went to the social mediasphere with his ideas and his project took off with incredible velocity. Over 6,000 user-generated videos of have been posted to the site, with several receiving over a million views each. The It Gets Better Project YouTube channel has over 24,000 subscribers. The project has been covered in The New York Times, Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. The President of the United States even pitched in to make a video.
Why has the It Gets Better Project been so staggeringly successful? Well, because it evokes memory and emotion and makes you feel empathy. No matter who you are.
Take the account of a Fort Worth city councilman talking candidly at a city council meeting about being bullied as a child. That video won’t speak to everyone, but it will probably move his fellow Southerners and local elected officials. For others, consider the second most popular video on the It Gets Better YouTube channel: from Ke$ha. The pop star speaks informally, in a lowly-lit room, and “swears to god” it will get better.
These are just two examples out of the thousands that have been posted, but they illustrate what makes the It Gets Better Project unique: people are allowed to tell their story, however they want. The result is not only a sense of authenticity in the videos, but a variety that ensures there is a video for everyone.
Think about it: if you are e a 12-year-old girl, you might think it’s dorky to tweet a video of the President talking to youth about bullying gay kids, but you’d probably think it’s cool to post a link to Ke$ha. If you’re a public school teacher, you probably won’t feel the need to email colleagues a link to a video of Tim Gunn, but I would share an educational and heartfelt video from the President. TechCrunch readers might take interest in a video of Facebook and Google employees saying that it gets better. While some might connect with what it’s like being a Gay orthodox Jew, others might forward that video on to their entire temple.
The It Gets Better Project about page contains the following statistics:
- 9 out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) students have experienced harassment at school.
- LGBT teens are bullied 2 to 3 times as much as straight teens.
- More than 1/3 of LGBT kids have attempted suicide.
- LGBT kids are 4 times as likely to attempt suicide then their straight peers.
- LGBT youth with “highly rejecting” families are 8 times more likely to attempt suicide than those whose families accept them.
But they don’t rely on these dry facts to give their campaign momentum. Instead, they post moving videos of people telling their own story and empower others to do the same. Using celebrities to get out your message is nothing new, but the It Gets Better project is unique in that individuals are encouraged to tell their story, however they want to. The result: a viral video campaign that shows no sign of slowing down.