John Green hopes to 'amplify the voices of people who are not traditionally heard' through YouTube
John Green wants to help tackle internet hate one YouTube video at a time.
The young adult author is among five YouTubers to be tapped as ambassadors for the video platform's Creators for Change initiative.
The worldwide program, which first launched in September, gives selected creators a $25,000 grant to use toward a social impact project of their choice. The creators aim to engage their communities on topics like hate speech, xenophobia and extremism.
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"I've seen online communities mobilize for good time and again, but I've also seen online communities that define themselves by their vitriol, xenophobia, racism, and misogyny," Green told Mashable in an interview. "Abuse and harassment is rampant in online spaces. This is hopefully one small step among many toward combatting that."
Other new ambassadors include All India Bakchod (India), Cameo Project (Indonesia), Dina Torkia (United Kingdom) and Franchesca Ramsey (also from the U.S.).
Juniper Downs, Head of YouTube Public Policy, announced the ambassadors in a blog post on Monday.
Green, whose Vlogbrothers channel with brother Hank Green has 2.9 million subscribers, is no stranger to philanthropy.
Over the weekend, he and Hank held their 10th annual Project for Awesome livestream to raise money for Save the Children and Partners in Health.
Throughout the election, the brothers were also among those hoping to invigorate their audience through online video. The two launched a series called "How to Vote in Every State."
"I hope that I can amplify the voices of people who are not traditionally heard, whether that's in news media, entertainment, or elsewhere," Green said. "I'd like to encourage people to use their platforms for change and to foster understanding, but also to know when it's time to listen. I really believe programs like Creators for Change can lead to stronger connections and greater empathy across the broad divides we find here in the USA right now and abroad."
"I hope that I can amplify the voices of people who are not traditionally heard whether that's in news media, entertainment, or elsewhere."
Ramsey echoed Green.
"Being an ambassador for change is all about using your platform responsibly to advocate for the people and causes that need support," she told Mashable.
She said she plans on shedding more light on understanding and ending police violence.
To help all those creators who want to use their voices and videos to take on topics they care about, YouTube also collaborated with Upworthy to create a helpful series of best practices for creating effective social-change videos.
Existing ambassadors include: Natalie Tran (Australia), Abdel en Vrai (Belgium), Nilam Farooq (Germany), Omar Hussein (Saudi Arabia), Barış Özcan (Turkey) and Humza Arshad (United Kingdom).
Topics Social Good YouTube
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
