INSPIRATION CASE 3: WEB PLATFORM ON SOCIAL ISSUES General Information A web platform on social problems, like our example tole-rants.com, is built to showcase and solve social problems recognised by community members who also have to suggest potential solutions, recorded right from the heart and in a brief and standardised way. The main goal is to give hope: as many people already live in a web 2.0 world, a world of citizen journalism, a world where a single person equipped with a powerful idea really can change everything, such a platform can change the way people think and act on social problems.
Inspiration & Parametres for change a) awareness of diversity of problems & cultures
Different social problems shown on a crowd-sourced platform, showcasing for example youth service cuts, small arms trade or dignity for disabled people, highlight the diversity of problems that people are aware of. This in turn opens the eyes of other community members that different people might perceive social problems differently; be it due to their culture, direct environment or neighbourhood.
b) community members get a say
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Community members, be it from a local or the world’s community, can simply upload their own statement in a standardised way and pre-given format and are therewith given a real say in problem- as well as solution stating. They can determine what they recognise as problems and suggest own solutions. Mechanisms like pre-upload checks to keep the rules and viewers votes on video’s appropriateness make this platform a very democratic way of community engagement in social problems.
Information and pictures sourced from: http://www.tole-rants.com
INSPIRATION CASE 3: WEB PLATFORM ON SOCIAL ISSUES Our inspiring example: TOLE-RANTS.COM, world wide web Tole-rants.com is a global movement to inspire hope about solving social problems and to promote brief speeches that suggest potential solutions, usually taking the form of a 60 second heartfelt video, a so called tole-rant. The tole-rants idea was born by the communications agency global tolerance.
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How does tole-rants.com work in detail? By voicing and videoing people’s experiences and ideas in 60 second ‘heart-bites’ as well as sharing them through social media, tole-rants.com wants to spark a movement of hope. The process is simple. People record their personal message, start with “I’m tole-ranting about...” briefly setting out a social problem e.g. “...ageism” and explain why the social problem means something to them and why they care. Most importantly, those people point towards a concrete solution. Then, they upload their tole-rant on tole-rants.com and share it. Once a year a jury, consisting of • Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, • Mirjam Schoning, head & senior director of Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, • Janis Karklins, assistant director-general for UNESCO’s communication & information sector, • Simon Cohen, founder & managing director of global tolerance, chose the best tole-rants and help it on the road to reality.
What does it mean for the world’s community? One main goal and at the same time benefit of the tole-rants movement is to give hope to all people in the world: The whole idea of tole-ranting, being concise, constructive and speaking from the heart is that more people are likely to listen and engage with social problems. The more people who listen, the more chance for hope to be spread, leading to positive action. An additional benefit is that tole-rants can be shown on any social problem. Tolerants raises the voices of those who have hope for the future, and of all global social change makers who work towards solutions to social problems every day.
Information sourced from: http://www.tole-rants.com; picture sourced from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tole-rants/4931287869/. All rights reserved by tole-rants.com