Youth Activism Reborn Online

There is definitely "something happenin' here," just as the old 60s protest song proclaimed. Youth activism is experiencing a resurgence online in the form of social networking sites. We saw the sparks on MySpace during the immigration protests, then YouthNoise received millions in social venture funding. We know that this generation protests with their debit cards supporting or not supporting brands they think are doing good or bad in the world. Joe Trippi, the man behind Howard Dean's Internet success Joe Lockhart, who was press secretary to President Bill Clinton for two years, is one of the folks behind HotSoup, a social networking site designed to get people involved in politics (it doesn't feel so young to me though).

Anyhow, another activist oriented social networking site geared towards young people will be joining YouthNoise and TakingITGlobal in attempting to connect people with the organizations, causes and companies they care about. It's called Rethos (it's not live yet) and its founders say the name "is a play on the word 'ethos' — the fundamental values of a person, a society or a culture…Add a 'r,' and the resulting 'rethos' comes to mean 'a new set of attitudes and objectives.'"

The site is being developed by the guys behind Blue Horizon Media, which does social marketing campaigns for non-profits. According to this article, here's how it will work:

"The site's three main areas will explore environmental, social justice and conflict-resolution issues, with messages targeted to people ages 18 to 24. In addition to providing information about the issues in an entertaining way (humor, even sarcasm, will be used when appropriate, he said), the site will allow registered users to link up with established organizations and companies."

Definitely sounds like one to watch…

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.