New York — Viacom Inc.’s MTV has launched a new social networking site called “Think.MTV.com,” and the site is focused on encouraging young people to become involved in youth activism, sponsored by foundations operated by the founders of Microsoft and AOL.
“The site, Think.MTV.com, is designed to be a resource for social and political issues, aiming to inform as well as let users connect with other like-minded people on issues from the environment to sexual health and discrimination.”
The site is in beta and MTV says the site is for everyone from volunteers to die hard activists to anyone in between. The site will let users create profile pages like on other social networks such as MySpace and Facebook and they will be able to upload videos and photos, some of which may be aired on MTV’s online or cable network.
“We have only been able to devote a certain amount of time on air,” MTV President Christina Norman said in an interview. “The Think platform creates an umbrella to be able to talk about a number of issues at a time.”
ThinkMTV, which launched in beta, is financially backed by several large partners, such as from AOL founder Steve Case’s Case Foundation, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Amelior Foundation.
Various pop culture icons, nonprofit organizations, and civic organizations are using or plan to use the social networking site to encourage young people to speak out about issues that affect them. They include organizations like the United Nations, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Strong American Schools, as well as celebrities like Bono, Shakira, and John Legend.
MTV launched Think in part because of a study they did that found young people care about activism and 80 percent said it was a positive step to become involved in their community but only 19 percent described themselves as being “very involved.”
“The Think Community was built to catalyze a sea change in youth activism and make rock stars out of those young people working to better themselves, their communities and the world,” said Christina Norman, President, MTV.
“We are honored to partner with forward-thinking foundations, non-profits, celebrities and America’s youth on this powerful new platform for positive social change.”
MTV, which has a long history in stoking youth interest in political and social issues, aims to “close the gap” between the high interest in activism among young people and the comparatively lower levels of action.
“Think.MTV’s launch also comes amid a push at the network to boost its Internet presence.”
The test launch on Thursday comes just weeks after MTV struck a deal with News Corp’s MySpace social network to host a series of discussions between U.S. presidential candidates and Internet viewers that will be streamed online.
The presidential discussions will also air on Think.MTV.
MTV said it will reward members that use the site “to do good” with opportunities to meet celebrities, get access to exclusive MTV events, and get exposure on MTV and other national media outlets. Additional benefits include grants and scholarships.
Members are encouraged to use different multimedia tools to engage and educate others about important issues, including cell phones, online forums, broadband video and, digital cameras. In fact, multimedia is a key component of the social networking site. It is comprised of videos, blogs, socially-conscious video games, podcasts, and news reports.
Think.MTV.com enables all young people to:
- Get Educated: The Think community is dynamic and loaded with multimedia content uploaded from members, ThinkMTV and MTV News.
- Get Connected: Think.MTV.com is a national crossroads where young change makers can leverage their collective talents to amplify their impact. Members can align in “Think Tanks” by interests, skills, geography and more to advance the issues they care about most – from global to local.
- Get Heard: The Think site is a platform for all young people to make their voices heard, serving as a powerful megaphone for a generation that grew up self-publishing. Beginning later this fall, every video, photo or conversation a user contributes will also earn Action Badges, which can be redeemed for prizes, national exposure and more.
- Get Rewarded: In a first for social activism, Think.MTV.com leverages the power of MTV’s brand, reach and partnerships to offer powerful rewards to members who use the site to do ‘good’. Think.MTV and the Knight Foundation will award up to $500,000 to young creators who come up with an idea to use digitally delivered news to improve real communities.
MTV claims its social networking site is unique from other online communities, since content posted on the site will get exposure on MTV’s other sites, mobile platform, and the MTV network.
ThinkMTV is part of Viacom’s recently-launched social networking initiative called “Flux Network.” Flux is an open platform that lets bloggers add community-related tools to their sites.
However, it is too early to tell if ThinkMTV will achieve the same popularity as other social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. While ThinkMTV’s purpose is to empower youth and help them speak out about issues related to politics, health, and education, social networking sites have been criticized for exposing youth to danger.
Earlier this year, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that MySpace contained more than 29,000 sex offender profiles. MySpace defended itself, saying it is committed to deleting sex offenders from the site. MTV must be prepared to deal with a similar challenge.
The site itself has a good look but the features are nothing groundbreaking. They do focus on a variety of issues that may be attractive to the MTV demographic, and could spur involvement in issues such as the environment, politics and education. The social networking scene is a crowded one for sure, but MTV’s Think maybe on to something with its social issue focus.
Additionally, through partnerships between ThinkMTV and MTV’s affiliate distribution partners nationwide, the network and its partners hope to inspire youth activism across the country, one local community at a time.