Janet Giampietro :: Gblog

Social media sharing and connection has extended to holiday reboots. The it’s-not-about-me-it’s-about-you mentality has finally crept into these somewhat solipsistic holidays. About time, I say. But how to rewire traditional thinking to create a change?

We’ve been seeing it with Halloween for the past few years – play down the sweets, but still have fun with dress up, giving and receiving. Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has shown to be a powerful way to make a difference in the lives of the world’s children. The program has also spurred many other ways of living Halloween. Mind shift.

So now we turn to Valentine’s Day. Generosity Day has emerged as the new new. According to its Facebook page:

“The goal is to spend Valentine’s Day cultivating your practice of generosity… For Generosity Day, all acts small and big alike, count. But you have to say YES to every genuine request for help all day long! It’s about creating more generosity, and becoming a more open person along the way.”

Rethinking and rewiring purpose is critical to any rebranding. In enveloping Generosity Day for good, using social media to launch is a perfect platform to share the thinking and spread the word. Random acts of generosity can transform. It’s a great mind shift without losing the holiday’s aspect of love. It’s demonstrating love in a broader sense and distributing it more widely.

Whether you give or receive, tweet a #generosityday act, share it on Facebook or on your blog. Use your creativity – say yes to more than flowers and chocolate.

What commercial holidays would like a crack at rebranding?

Today, 18 january 2012, is a day that we’ll live in ignorance. Many Internet sites have begun 24- and 12-hour blackouts in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the Senate.

Internet companies (including Google, Wikipedia, Firefox, Wordpress, Reddit and Creative Commons, among others) are concerned that SOPA and PIPA, if passed, could be used to target legitimate sites where users share content.

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Designer and writer Nancy Duarte looks at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech to determine what makes the speech iconic.

Ms Duarte visuallizes the speech – mapping phrases, phrasing, patterns and content to illustrate why the speech has remained so iconic and powerful – and ultimately influential for change.

Which part(s) do you remember most or find most effective?

Upbeat beats a downer any day. There’s a great social media lesson there on persuasion and engagement.

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Earlier in the year, political unrest in North Africa led the way for the Arab Spring. Now it’s Italy’s turn.

What unites people more than a place to chat freely – and a common enemy?

Fed up with Silvio Berlusconi’s corrupt and ineffective government, thousands of Italian voices were heard via the “4 Sí” campaigns on Twitter, and in Facebook groups such as Questo pomodoro avrà più fans di Silvio Berlusconi (This tomato has more fans than Silvio Berlusconi) and Un’Italia senza Berlusconi (Italy without Berlusconi).

While Berlusconi owns about 70% of the country’s media, social media is still firmly under public control. (more…)