In September 2010, the first It Gets Better videos were created. It Gets Better is a non-profit campaign that provides support to 3 different projects, all providing support for LGBT (as well as straight) teens struggling to remain safe from the harassment of others, as well as the threat of suicide. While the campaign has most of it’s focus on various videos (created by countless types of celebrities and authorities, students, and adults who have endured similar hardships or are supportive of every type of orientation or gender identity), there are other media employed as well. Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), blogs, marches and vigils, bar and restaurant fundraisers, rallies, film festivals, clothing/merchandise, a book, television commercials and public announcements, theatre performances, as well as parades and walls where supporters can write messages, are examples of other media used to spread this decidedly prosocial message. (It Gets Better, 2011)
ZOMG I LOVE V NECKS!!
Several psychological concepts are used to spread this message via both central and peripheral routes. These include foot-in-the-door principle, celebrity status (which can account for both attractiveness or perceived credibility), speaker credibility (i.e., they have endured something similar, and are perceived as trustworthy), the emotional content of the message, the contact between people giving and people receiving the message, and two-step flow of communication. The message is meant to be persuasive because the plea for support is desperate. (Myers, 2010)
Since the site and the campaign have gone up, calls into The Trevor Project suicide hotline have increased drastically, and over $100,000 have been raised in support of LGBT youth. I believe that the project has done an amazing job of getting their message out, and will continue to grow beyond it’s first birthday. The continuing creativity of site supporters and creators means an increase in number of supporters, as well as the distance they will reach with their message. In my opinion, the sooner and the bigger, the better. (It Gets Better, 2010)
Resources:
Savage Love, LLC. (2011). It Gets Better. Retrieved from http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
Myers, D. (2008). Persuasion. In Social Psychology (10th ed.). (pp. 229-265). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
The Psychology of Gaming 