The It Gets Better Project: A Social Media Case Study

Katie Bennett Dr. Giselle Auger JMA 418 Spring 2012

Introduction The It Gets Better Project (IGB) is a social media campaign that began as a response to the 2010 torrent of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) youth suicides. The projects creator, Dan Savage, uploaded a video to YouTube to send the message that it gets better in hopes of reaching out to harassed youth who were contemplating taking their own lives. Today, the It Gets Better Channel on YouTube boasts more than 30,000 user-uploaded videos that have been viewed more than 40 million times.1 The project has since expanded to other forms of social media and beyond, interacting with its target public of bullied LGBT youth of approximate high school age. Based on the adherence to several of Arthur W. Pages Principles, sheer magnitude of the projects following, utilization of rhetorical strategy, and recognition from various organizations, the It Gets Better Project can largely be considered a public relations success. Background on Teenage LGBT Suicide in 2010 Statistics In 2010, multiple bullying-induced suicides of LGBT youth gained national attention. Statistics show that LGBT teenagers are more likely to deal with psychological harassment than their heterosexual counterparts. Approximately 84% of LGBT students have reported to being bullied because of their sexual orientation.2 In general, gay and lesbian youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth3. Additionally, approximately 36.5% of LGBT youth, or about 1 in 3, in grades 9-12 have attempted suicide and 20.5% of those attempts have resulted in medical care.3 2010 Suicide Epidemic These statistics provide the foundation for what the media has called a LGBT youth suicide epidemic in 2010. Justin Aaberg made national headlines when he took is own life on July 9, becoming the third LGBT youth to commit suicide in Minnesotas Anoka-Hennepin School District in a single year.4 Incessant harassment from classmates about sexuality is considered to be the cause of all three deaths.

The surge of suicides within the district is thought to have originated with the 2009 school board policy that mandated staff neutrality on the topic of homosexuality. According to the ordinance, Teaching about sexual orientation is not a part of the District adopted curriculum; rather, such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches, or community organizations. Anoka-Hennepin staff, in the course of their professional duties, shall remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation including but not limited to student led discussions.5 Though the school district enforced a Bullying Policy that states bullying is not tolerated and will result in discipline6, the neutrality ordinance prevented LGBT students from discussing the reasons for their bullying with teachers and other staff members. It is suspected that the harassment, in conjunction with the inability to go to an authority figure for help, led to the multiple deaths within the district. Exactly two months after Aabergs death, fifteen-year-old Billy Lucas also took his own life on September 9.7 The news of Lucas death would be the first of a two-month long epidemic of LGBT suicides. At the end of the period, a total of nine young men would take their lives because of sexualityrelated harassment. These reports of LGBT bullying and suicide would catch the attention of columnist Dan Savage who would begin the It Gets Better Project (IGB) in an attempt to help other struggling LGBT youth see that life gets better after high school graduation. Background on The It Gets Better Project Dan Savage Dan Savage is an openly gay columnist for The Stranger, Seattle, Washingtons alternative lifestyle weekly newspaper, and its blog site Slog.8 Savage Love, his advice column, offers counseling on various straight and gay sexual activities. The column is widely syndicated, appearing in multiple publications in the United States and worldwide.9 Savage lives in Seattle with his husband, Terry, and their son DJ.10 When the string of LGBT youth suicides became prominent in 2010, Savage says he remembers wishing he could have done something to help. In an interview with ABC, Savage recalls "Hearing about

these kids that have committed suicide, the reaction as a gay adult is always, 'God, I wish I could have talked to them for fifteen minutes or five minutes and told them it gets better."11 The idea to reach out to LGBT youth came to Savage after he blogged about 15-year-old Billy Lucas suicide and a reader commented, My heart breaks for the pain and torment you went through, Billy Lucas. I wish I could have told you that things get better.12 Savage realized that, though he couldnt save the kids who had already taken their lives, he could talk to kids considering the same action by reaching out to them through social media. Inspired by openly gay politician Harvey Milks quote You gotta give em hope,13 Dan and Terry uploaded the first It Gets Better video on YouTube on September 21 st, 2011.14 In the video, Dan and Terry recount their own stories of bullying. While Dan claims to not have suffered a great deal, Terrys high school experience was laden with incessant harassment. On top of being called names and shoved into lockers, Terrys car was often vandalized and school authorities essentially told him they could do nothing. However, it didnt last forever. Honestly, things got better the day I left high school,15 Terry relays to viewers. Dan and Terry recount their own love story, the beginning of their family life, and the acceptance they finally received from their parents. Their plea to harassed LGBT youth is to persevere until the end of high school because, if they commit suicide The bullies really won.16 Terry begins his closing remarks of the video by reminding viewers Living well is the best revengejust stick it out. I know its painful now, but its gonna get so much better.17 On September 30th, 2010, merely nine days after being posted, the video had gone viral, achieving over 200,000 views. 18 The It Gets Better Project Dan and Terrys video thus began what is known today as the It Gets Better Project. They encouraged others to upload their messages of hope on the It Gets Better channel on YouTube, receiving thousands of personal testimonials by the middle of October 2010, less than a month after the original posting.19 Videos from LGBT adults, as well as celebrities, politicians, including President Barack Obama, and other prominent figures began to perpetuate Dan and Terrys message. Savage realized that the

projects immediate popularity called for a permanent program. He developed itgetsbetter.org as the central hub for the project. Today, the site claims that The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach if they can just get through their teen years.20 More than a year after Dan and Terrys first message, IGB has turned into a worldwide movement with more than 30,000 user-uploaded videos that have been viewed more than 40 million times. 21 Upon entering the site, visitors are prompted to Take The Pledge to speak up against bullying of all kinds 22 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 1 for a screenshot of the website). IGB primarily relies on social media and has expanded beyond YouTube to develop both Facebook and Twitter pages. The website now sells Tshirts and donates the proceeds to The Trevor Project, a national crisis hotline organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT youth, 23 and GLESN, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.24 In addition, Savage edited It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living, a book comprised of essays perpetuating the IGB message. 25 In February 2012, Music Television (MTV) aired It Gets Better, a documentary for LGBT youth to share their own stories.26 Dan and Terrys original video currently boasts over 1,700,000 views.27 Criticism IGB has received criticism regarding both its method and methodology. Critics claim the videos don't go far enough in addressing the diversity of the queer experience, or in offering help for the immediate problems bullied young people face.28 Various bloggers have also found faults within the campaign. Zoe Melisa lists a number of criticisms, most prominently advocating that the problem of LGBT bullying should not be addressed by talking to the youth about their problems, but by listening to them. 29 Melisa claims that by perpetuating the message that It Gets Better, there is no call for social change, but rather a call for bullied youth to simply change their perspective.30 In addition, Melisa contends that those LGBT adults

making the videos are in a privileged position, that overwrites the youth experience.31 Cultural critic Tavia Nyongo also points out this flaw, stating, It is a mandate to fold into urban, neoliberal gay enclaves, a form of liberal handholding and upward-mobility that echoes the now discredited pull yourself up from the bootstraps immigrant motto. Savage embodies the spirit of a coming-of-age success story. He is able-bodied, monied, confidant, well-travelled, suitably partnered and betrays no trace of abjection or shame. 32 Blogger Jason Tseng condemns the project for being a bit too optimistic. He says that it is important to acknowledge real problems within the gay community, where the ostracizing may continue into adulthood. According to Tseng, the project seems to be too unrealistic by pretending that the gay community has it all figured out.33 In addition, Sady Doyle claims that, while IGB is well intentioned, things wont get better on their own for these kids without medical help. Doyle says that If we dont provide support and medical care for people with depression; if we dont help people who are being abused to find a safe place; if we dont make sure that the systematic, community-wide abuse of GLBT youth is eliminated, the project should be considered a failure.34 Savage responded to these criticisms in his column, acknowledging their accuracy. He s aid, I admit that [the It Gets Better Project] doesnt do the impossible. It doesnt solve the problem of anti-gay bullying, everywhere, all at once, forever. The point of the videos is to give despairing kids in impossible situations a little thing called hope.35 He points out that the videos are not just coming from adults in a place of privilege and cites several examples of submissions from teenagers talking about their experiences. Savage goes on to point out that while the government works on anti-bullying policies and citizens strive for social change, There's nothing about this projectnothing about participating in this projectthat prevents people from doing more. Indeed, I would hope that participating in this raises awareness and leaves people feeling obligated to do more.36

Social Media Campaign IGB currently utilizes three forms of social media to perpetuate its message to its core public: LGBT youth who are experiencing bullying or other problems based on their sexuality. The primary resource is YouTube, with supplementary pages on Facebook and Twitter. YouTube YouTube is an online video-sharing platform founded by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim in September 2005 with the goal of helping the general public become the broadcasters of tomorrow.37 Since its launch in 2005, the website has attracted hundreds of millions of users from around the world. According to YouTubes frequently asked questions, 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day.38 Videos are restricted to be fifteen minutes in length.39 YouTube is localized in 24 countries and available in more than 30 languages.40 The website has a set of community guidelines to dictate what is appropriate to post and removes all copyrighted material.41 Users are able to comment on and rate videos and subscribe to various channels, or the homepages of accounts.42 In 2009, YouTube launched YouTube Insight, a video analytic tool that provides information about things like demographics of viewers, ratings, comments, favorites, and other important details.43 YouTube currently has several competitors. Blip.tv is a platform utilized by users that wish to create video series and provides the tools for editing. Vimeo is another website that is geared more towards creative uploads. VeOh allows users to upload larger file sizes, permitting videos beyond YouTubes fifteen-minute maximum. Another platform, Viddler, is geared towards companies and provides business analytics tools. Finally, yFrog, Twitters photo sharing website, now has the capacity to share videos through social media faster than any of the aforementioned companies. 44

It Gets Better YouTube Dan and Terrys original video was uploaded to YouTube in September 2010, thus beginning IGB. Since then, the project has formed its own channel where it favorites user-uploaded videos and creates playlists based on specific topics, such as Sports, Faith, Politicians, etc. The channel currently has over 42,000 subscribers and over 3,300,000 views, as well as links to over 30,000 videos created by supporters worldwide45 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 2 for a screenshot of the channel). These videos are generally titled It Gets Better and are tagged with the terms addressed in the video (gay, teen, LGBT, etc.) and also It Gets Better Project.46 This way, videos that are not immediately uploaded into the channel are still accessible by typing the campaigns name into YouTubes search engine. In addition, the main IGB website has its own search capabilities.47 Once a viewer finds a video he is interested in watching, the video plays from YouTube. Facebook Facebook, founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, is the worlds largest social network with over 845 million users worldwide.48 Facebook describes itself as a way for users to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.49 Originally, Facebook was an exclusive network for Harvard students.50 After four months, 30 more college networks had been made available on the site.51 In September 2006, Facebook opened its membership to anyone with an email address.52 Now, 11% of users are over the age of 35 and the fastest growing demographic is users over 30.53 Additionally, Facebook has grown internationally. More than 80% of monthly users are outside of the United States and Canada, and Facebook is available in more than 70 languages.54 More than half of Facebook users utilize the network every single day and users spend an average of 19 minutes a day on Facebook.55 It is the 6th most trafficked site in the United States and the top photo-sharing site.56 Facebooks competition includes Myspace, Friendster, LinkedIn, Tagged, and Open Social- all social networking sites that provide essentially the same service.57

It Gets Better Facebook IGB expanded to Facebook on November 30, 201058 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 3 for a screenshot of the page). Currently, over 250,000 people like the page and approximately 5,000 people are talking about it, meaning that they have mentioned it on their own profile.59 The projects Facebook is primarily utilized to post videos from the YouTube channel, as well as other links and information regarding LGBT life. Additionally, the Facebook page often provides information for other closely related projects, places to donate, and events that the project supports. Supporters can post messages of encouragement or their own videos on the projects wall. People who like the page then have the opportunity to share the links on their own walls for all their friends to see. The page is updated at least once a day, but typically multiple times.60 Twitter Twitter, a social networking and microblogging service founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, enables users to post status updates of 140 characters or less.61 The company describes itself as a real-time network that allows users to connect to the latest stories, ideas, opinions, and news that they find interesting.62 By finding accounts that they deem compelling, Twitter allows users to follow conversations and receive updates in their timelines.63 Users can mention other users in their tweets by using the at (@) symbol followed by the username.64 Other peoples tweets can be immediately shared by retweeting onto the users own page.65 People can also privately tweet one another using a direct messaging system.66 A hashtag (#) can be thought of as the theme of the tweet, and clicking on it will take the viewer to see similar tweets from other users.67 Twitter currently has 250,000,000 tweets per day and is used by more than 100 million people, both online and through mobile devices.68 It is now an international website available in more than 20 languages.69 Twitters primary competition is Tumblr, a site that allows chatting, messaging, and uploading of various media. FriendFeed consolidates information from other social networking sites and puts it into one

location. Posterous allows users to post things online via email, and Plurk is a microblogging service that was developed to combine various social networking tools from other sites.70 It Gets Better Twitter The It Gets Better Project Twitter, username @ItGetsBetter, began tweeting on November 16 th, 201071 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 4 for a screenshot of the profile). The page has over 1,700 tweets and more than 51,000 followers.72 In addition, IGB typically follows every user that follows its account. @ItGetsBetter is primarily utilized to tweet YouTube videos and other information pertinent to the cause. It often retweets messages sent by followers about how the project has inspired them. It is common for celebrities and other figures to tweet encouraging messages to appear on the projects timeline. Analysis Utilizing Arthur W. Pages Public Relations Principles The Page Principles, as outlined by Arthur W. Page, have set a foundation for ethical public relations management. In the IGB social media campaign, several of the principles are evident. From Dan and Terrys first video, the project exhibits the Tell the Truth principle. In the video, Dan and Terry honestly talk about how they were bullied and cite examples from their pasts. For example, Terry begins by stating I was picked on mercilessly in school. People were really cruel to me, I was bullied a lot, beat up, thrown against walls and lockers and windows73 The two then go on to truthfully express all the ways things got better by citing their love and family life as proof.74 Even beyond the beginnings of the social media campaign, the project still continues to tell the truth. It acknowledges that there are some very serious issues and problems that these kids are dealing with, and it does not belittle them in any way. Rather, the contributors IGB are straightforward about their own bullying experiences and the troubling nature of growing up differently than everyone else. In extension, they do not lie about it getting better, rather; they provide evidence by describing all of the things they would have missed out on had they not survived high school. Additionally, Savage tells the truth when addressing criticism of the project, as shown in his aforementioned blog response. He acknowledges that the project has its faults and that it will not

immediately solve all the problems of the troubled youth.75 In admitting to IGBs limitations, he does not pretend that the project fixes social situations in a way that would be nearly impossible for a single organization. IGB also displays the principle of Prove it With Action. The first step of proving it with action was Savages uploading of his and Terrys personal stories, citing two instances of life getting better. Even further, instead of simply putting up his own video, Savage began to post videos from other people, proving that his story is not unique. In the 30,000 user-uploaded videos, IGB, whether from those who went through similar experiences or those who simply want to be supportive, has aimed to prove that the message being sent is true.76 In an extension of this principle, IGB acts by donating to various beneficiaries, like The Trevor Project. Not only does the project say that it gets better, it acts by continuing to perpetuate the message and helping out other organizations.77 IGB is a proponent of the Pages Listen to the Customer principle. While the organizations publics are not customers per se, when Savage realized the extreme extent that bullying of LGBT had reached, he understood what the public wanted and needed. Thereby he began spreading his message, aiming to inspire hope in LGBT youth and give them reassurance that life goes on after high school. Now that the organization has been established for over a year, it continues to listen to its publics through various forms of social media. Videos continue to be uploaded to the YouTube channel. It is also no uncommon for the project to respond to LGBT youth that post on the Twitter and Facebook pages. 78 IGB is very accessible, providing an intimate relationship between itself and its main public. The projects focus on this relationship indicates its success in demonstrating the listen to the customer principle. For IGB, the Manage for Tomorrow principle is exhibited in two different ways. The project continues to interact with LGBT youth in a manner that perpetuates its existence. The social media has been treated with such care that the project has expanded to other media, including a book and a television special. In this way, IGB treats its message with care so that it is still able to help LGBT youth in the future.

Beyond the scope of the project itself, IGB manages for the future of LGBT youth. By spreading its core message, IGB strives to help LGBT see that there is a future worth having, just as long as they keep living. Dan Savage, as the primary face of IGB, demonstrates the principle of Remain Calm, patient, and good-humored. In his responses to criticism, Savage does not panic and addresses issues as they develop. He generally responds via his column, but also has been known to do it through other media, such as interviews with ABC.79 In addition, when Savage gives lectures, he is seen, as reported in various accounts and interviews, as generally good-humored. For example, Kate Pluth, a journalist for Claremont McKenna College, described his lecture style as having pointed elegance.80 Savage tends to acknowledge the severity of LGBT harassment without hysterics or over-reacting. Rather, he deals with the situation in as light-hearted and witty way as possible without compromising the integrity of the project as a whole. Evaluation of Public Relations Efforts Overall, IGBs public relations campaign has been widely successful. In addition to its practice of several Page principles, the social media component of the campaign has a statistically strong following. The messages sent by the project effectively engage in the rhetorical strategies of ethos and pathos. Furthermore, the development of the campaign beyond social media also indicates its success. Social Media Statistical Analysis IGB began as a result of the implementation of social media methods. Because the campaign is primarily utilized to increase awareness and advocacy, success is determined in the number of people reached. In terms of brand engagement, IGB has gained a lot of attention since it began in 2010. The benchmark for determining statistical success of the Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages is zero. This benchmark comes from the project itself and not another company because the goal is awareness, rather than competition. Therefore, the attention the company has received since it began is the primary basis for this statistical success. These numbers indicate not only the number of people reached, but also those

who have since acted- those who subscribe, follow, like, or sign a pledge are willing to interact with the project and have made a conscious decision to receive updates. It must be noted that the analysis of these statistics is limited to free online resources, as access to the actual pages is restricted. YouTube The number of views for IGBs YouTube channel is well over 3 million, and that does not include the number of views for videos uploaded by other users or those uploaded onto the main IGB website.81 The projects website claims that collectively, all videos tagged with it Gets Better Project have been viewed 40 million times.82 It is unclear how many of these views are unique. The channel has about 43,000 subscribers, indicating that there are more participants and spectators than responders. Many responders interact with the videos by liking or disliking them and commenting.83 On Dan and Terrys original video, for example, there are 13,556 likes and 834 dislikes, as well as 13,212 comments.84 Upon a cursory reading of the comments, there are generally three types of respondents: users praising the project, users condemning homosexuality, and users responding to those condemners. In addition, the channel is the 11th Most Subscribed Non-Profit of all time.85 Though the demographics of these viewers and subscribers are unclear, the sheer numbers on the channel and videos indicate that there is success within disseminating the message through these videos. Facebook The IGB page has gone from zero likes in November 2010 to over 250,000 likes in March 2012. Each like indicates a new, unique respondent. A respondent, as defined by KD Paine, is someone who responds to social media.86 Someone who likes the page interacts with it in a positive way. The likes are continuing to increase, approximately 0.5% in seven days, 3.3% in a month, and 8.6% in three months87 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 5 for graphical representation). In regards to comments and shares on the page, sheer numbers cannot be evaluated without access to user preferences, a right denied to the general public. A cursory analysis of the posts, however, indicates that the comments posted by publics are

primarily positive. A post from the project itself generally gains about 10-20 shares by people placing the post on their own profiles.88 However, once a person shares the link, any additional shares, i.e., from that page, are not added to the total count. Therefore, there is not a current way to determine how far the post actually travels on the website. In addition to the number of likes on the page, currently there are over 5,000 people talking about the project on Facebook, meaning that it has been mentioned on over 5,000 peoples profiles.89 It is unclear whether these comments are positive or negative, but as described by KD Paine in her social media manifesto, it is worse to not be talked about at all.90 Though the demographics are unclear, these numbers show that the Facebook page has been moderately successful in a short period of time. Twitter According to TweetReach, a tool for determining how many people see tweets, for every 50 tweets posted by @ItGetsBetter, between approximately 70,000 to 600,000 people see at least one.91 These 50 tweets can be further broken down by category, with 13 being original, 26 being retweets, and 11 being @replies.92 Only a little over 700 users are likely to see more than one of these tweets in a given 50-tweet span.93 However, the sheer magnitude of 600,000 users seeing at least one tweet is a success, as the project has a little over 50,000 followers (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 6 for a graphical representation). TwitterGrader grades a twitter profile based on several factors: number of followers, power of followers (or those that also have a high grade that follow the account), updates, how recently it updates, Follower/Following ratio, and engagement (retweets). These factors go into calculating a score, which is used to compare the user against all others who also have that score. The grade is then calculated based on the approximate number of users that have an equal or lower score. @ItGetsBetter has a score of 10094 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 7 for the Twitter grade). Twitalyzer, another Twitter analysis, gives each user a grade based on impact and peer index, a measurement of online authority. According to Twitalyzer, @ItGetsBetter has an impact of 99/100.97 This is based on the number of followers a user has, the number

of references and citations of the user, how often the user is retweeted, how often the user is retweeting other people, and the relative frequency at which the user posts updates. The peer index, however, is only a 49/100.98 (Refer to Appendix A, Figure 8 for Twtialyzer analysis). This score reflects the impact of the users online activities, and the extent to which it has built up social and reputational capital on the web. While this number is on the lower side, it simply indicates an opportunity that IGB can evaluate and improve. Though the demographics of these viewers are once again unclear, the number of views for the projects tweets can largely be considered a success. It Gets Better Pledge As an extension of the messages sent on social media, IGBs website has its own measure of participants with the It Gets Better Pledge. The pledge states: Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that "It Gets Better."99 Currently over 500,000 people have taken the pledge. This indicates a change in acceptance of the projects audience, as they have clearly become more willing to interact with LGBT youth. Even further, the number of pledges indicates a change in action as well, as those who gave their email address made a conscious decision to receive updates.100 Statistical Analysis and Shortcomings Failings of this research include the inability to determine how many comments, tweets, and views are of unique individuals and how many are repeats. It is also unclear what percent of these numbers are members of the organizations targeted LGBT youth public. In addition, the statistical analyses may not be 100% accurate, as third parties provide them. These numbers also do not indicate the number of spectators on each site, nor do they indicate the number of visitors to the main IGB website. However, the numbers make it clear that the project is succeeding, at the very least, by making its presence felt on the

web. Even beyond just creating awareness, the numbers of likes, comments, views, and pledges also indicate that IGB is impacting the acceptance and action of its publics as well. These numbers, therefore, indicate that IGB has been statistically successful within its social media campaign. Messages Another way that the IGB can be considered successful is in its utilization of ethos and pathos in its videos. In regards to ethos, speakers for the project are proficient in the areas of credibility, charisma, and control. The project has received support from various great speakers, such as President Barack Obama, Glee Star Chris Colfer, and more. In extension, the videos are generally credible because they come from people who have lived through similar experiences, allowing the power of their messages to inspire belief. As for pathos, the messages are successful because of their engagement with feelings and sentiment. There is a strong feeling of compassion, sympathy, and hope that is perpetuated in these messages, making them positive emotional appeals to the LGBT youth they target. Recognition IGB has been recognized by numerous publications for its success. In September 2010, Savage received a Sidney Prize from the Sidney Hillman Foundation for excellence in socially conscious journalism. The award recognized the development of IGB and its immediate success.101 Another award received by IGB is a Webby Special Achievement award, to recognize that IGB expanded beyond anyone's imagination and reached viewers across all corners of the world. Under Savage's fearless leadership, the "It Gets Better" has taken on a life of its own and has grown organically online into what is one of the largest, crowd-sourced video projects today. It is undeniable that Savage's nurturing of the Web as a universal platform for social change has truly made an impact online and off.102 Additionally, Advertising Age Magazine recognized IGB as one of the Top Ten Social Media Campaigns of 2010.103 IGB received recognition from Google in May 2011 when it produced a Google Chrome commercial to showcase the project, calling Savage a messenger.104 Even further, the projects social

media campaign can be considered a success because it has expanded beyond the Internet. The It Gets Better book and MTV special spread the message beyond the power of the web. Conclusion What began as one mans attempt to reach out to bullied LGBT youth has evolved into a worldwide movement to perpetuate a message of hope that it gets better. The reported statistics indicate that IGB has successfully come into contact with large numbers of people, though it is unclear just how many of those are members of the core public. Regardless, the numbers show that the social media campaign has raised the levels of awareness for LGBT youth bullying, and has even prompted acceptance and action from numerous supporters. The progression of these numbers from their initial beginnings of zero indicates that the social media campaign can be considered successful in its short existence. In addition, the utilization of Pages Principles in the practice of public relations demonstrates the care used to perpetuate the project. All of the strategies employed indicate that IGB has been successful and can continue to be if public relations remains a primary management function.

Appendix A

Figure 1: It Gets Better Project Homepage105

Figure 2: It Gets Better Project YouTube Channel106

Figure 3: It Gets Better Project Facebook Page107

Figure 4: It Gets Better Project Twitter Page108

Figure 5: Facebook Likes of It Gets Better Project over time from Wildfire Social Media Monitor 109

Figure 6: Twitter Reach of It Gets Better Project per 50 Tweets from Tweet Reach 110

Figure 7: It Gets Better Twitter Grade 111

Figure 8: It Gets Better Impact and Peer Index from Twitalyzer112

References
1What

is the It Gets Better Project? It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. <http://www.itgetsbetter.org/pages/about-it-gets-better-project/>. 2Statistics. Youth Pride Inc. Online. 2010. February 2012. <http://www.youthprideri.org/Resources/Statistics/tabid/227/Default.aspx>. 3Dan Savage on the It Gets Better Project - World News Conversation. ABC News Video. 30 September 2010. February 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/WN/dan-savage-project-world-newsconversation/story?id=11764984#.T1-KEVElZSV>. 3Statistics. Youth Pride Inc. Online. 2010. February 2012. 3Birkey, Andy. Anti-gay Group Organizes in Anoka-Hennepin Schools as Community Deals with Gay Suicides. The Minnesota Independent Online. 26 August 2010. February 2012. <http://minnesotaindependent.com/64047/anti-gay-group-organizes-in-anoka-schools-as-community-dealswith-gay-suicides>. 5Ibid. 6Bullying Is not a Normal Part of Childhood. It is not Harmless! Anoka-Hennepin School District Website. February 2012. <http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=218201>. 7Friends: Bullies Led To 15-Year-Old's Death: Facebook Groups Spring Up After Billy Lucas' Suicide. The Indy Channel News Online. 13 September 2012. February 2012. <http://www.theindychannel.com/news/24993363/detail.html>. 8Pluth, Kate. Dan Savage: Writer, Activist, Potty Mouth. Forum Online. 5 March 2012. February 2012. <http://cmcforum.com/news/03052012-dan-savage-writer-activist-potty-mouth>. 9Ibid. 10Ibid. 11 Dan Savage on the It Gets Better Project - World News Conversation. ABC News Video. 30 September 2010. February 2012. 12Stelter, Brian. Campaign Offers Help to Gay Youths. The New York Times Online. 18 October 2010. February 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/19video.html?_r=3&src=me&ref=general>. 13Ibid. 14Montgomery, James. Dan Savage Explains Why He Started 'It Gets Better' Project. 30 September 2010. February 2012. < http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1649114/dan-savage-explains-why-started-itgets-better-project.jhtml>. 15It Gets Better: Dan and Terry. YouTube Video. 21 September 2010. February 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcVyvg2Qlo>. 16Ibid. 17Ibid. 18Ibid. 19Stelter, Brian. Campaign Offers Help to Gay Youths. The New York Times Online. 18 October 2010. February 2012. 20What is the It Gets Better Project? It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. 21Ibid. 22The It Gets Better Project. It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. <http://www.itgetsbetter.org>. 23About Trevor. The Trevor Project Online. February 2012. <http://www.thetrevorproject.org/organization>. 24Chapters. GLSEN Online. February 2012. <http://www.glsen.org/cgibin/iowa/chapter/chapter/index.html>.

25The 26It

It Gets Better Project. It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. Gets Better. MTV Video Online. 22 February 2012. February 2012. <http://www.mtv.com/videos/itgets-better/1679363/playlist.jhtml>. 27It Gets Better: Dan and Terry. YouTube Video. 21 September 2010. February 2012. 28Eichler, Alex. Critiquing It Gets Better Project For Gay Teens. The Atlantic Wire Online. 8 October 2010. February 2012. <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2010/10/critiquing-it-gets-better-project-forgay-teens/22739/>. 29Melisa, Zoe. Why I dont like Dan Savages It Gets Better Project as a Response to Bu llying. (Feemephane) and Fanfare Blog. 30 September 2010. February 2012. <http://tempcontretemps.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/why-i-dont-like-dan-savages-it-gets-better-project-asa-response-to-bullying/>. 30Ibid. 31Ibid. 32 Nyongo, Tavia. School Daze. Bully Bloggers Blog. 30 September 2010. February 2012. < http://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/school-daze/>. 33Tseng, Jason. Does It Really Get Better?: A Conscientious Critique . The Bilerico Project Online. 3 October 2010. February 2012. < http://www.bilerico.com/2010/10/does_it_really_get_better.php>. 34Doyle, Sady. Does 'It Gets Better' Make Life Better for Gay Teens? The Atlantic Online. 7 October 2010. February 2012. < http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/10/does-it-gets-bettermake-life-better-for-gay-teens/64184/>. 35Savage, Dan. It Gets Better: A Programming Note. Slog Blog Online. 4 October 2010. February 2012. < http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/10/04/it-gets-better-a-programming-note>. 36Ibid. 37Cloud, John. The YouTube Gurus. Time Magazine Online. 25 December 2006. February 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570795,00.html>. 38Frequently Asked Questions. YouTube. February 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/t/faq>. 39Ibid. 40Ibid. 41Ibid. 42Karch, Marziah. Channel (YouTube). About Website. February 2012. <http://google.about.com/od/k/g/YouTube_channel_Def.htm>. 43YouTube. Crunch Base. February 2012. <http://www.crunchbase.com/company/youtube>. 44Sniderman, Zachary. 7 YouTube Alternative and Why They Make Sense. Mashable Online. 11 May 2011. February 2012. <http://mashable.com/2011/05/11/youtube-alternatives/>. 45It Gets Better Project Channel. YouTube. February 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject>. 46Ibid. 47The It Gets Better Project. It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. 48Fact Sheet. Facebook. February 2012. <http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22>. 49About. Facebook. February 2012. < http://www.facebook.com/facebook/info>. 50Facebook. Crunch Base. February 2012. <http://www.crunchbase.com/company/facebook>. 51Ibid. 52Ibid. 53Ibid. 54Fact Sheet. Facebook. February 2012.

55Facebook. 56Ibid. 57Ibid. 58It

Crunch Base. February 2012.

Gets Better Project. Facebook. February 2012. <www.facebook.com/itgetsbetterproject>. Crunch Base. February 2012. <http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter>. Twitter. February 2012. <https://twitter.com/about>. Twitter Business. February 2012. <https://business.twitter.com/en/basics/glossary/>.

59Ibid. 60Ibid. 61Twitter. 62About. 63Ibid. 64Glossary. 65Ibid. 66Ibid. 67Ibid. 68About. 69Ibid.

Twitter. February 2012.

70Radjenovic,

Sara. Top 10 Twitter Competitors You Should Be Using. Green Marketing TV Online. 6 December 2010. February 2012. <http://www.greenmarketing.tv/2010/12/06/top-10-twitter-competitorsyou-should-be-using/>. 71It Gets Better. Twitter. February 2012. <https://twitter.com/#!/itgetsbetter>. 72Ibid. 73It Gets Better: Dan and Terry. YouTube Video. 21 September 2010. February 2012. 74Ibid. 75 Savage, Dan. It Gets Better: A Programming Note. Slog Blog Online. 4 October 2010. February 2012. 76It Gets Better Project Channel. YouTube. February 2012. 77Get Involved. It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. <http://www.itgetsbetter.org/pages/action-center>. 78It Gets Better. Twitter. February 2012. 79Dan Savage on the It Gets Better Project- World News Conversation. ABC News Video. 30 September 2010. February 2012. 80Pluth, Kate. Dan Savage: Writer, Activist, Potty Mouth. Forum Online. 5 March 2012. February 2012. 81It Gets Better Project Channel. YouTube. February 2012. 82What is the It Gets Better Project? It Gets Better Pro ject Online. February 2012. 83It Gets Better Project Channel. YouTube. February 2012. 84 It Gets Better: Dan and Terry. YouTube Video. 21 September 2010. February 2012. 85It Gets Better Project Channel. YouTube. February 2012. 86 Paine, Katie Delahaye. The Social Media Measurement Manifesto. PDF. Page 14. February 2012. <http://www.themeasurementstandard.com/Issues/5-1-10/KDPaineSocialMediaWhitepaper.pdf>. 87Facebook Likes for It Gets Better Project. Wildfire Social Media Marketing. 14 March 2012. <http://monitor.wildfireapp.com/comparisons/336966/fans_followers/it-gets-better-project-on-facebook-anditgetsbetter-on-twitter#&data=daily&range=90>. 88It Gets Better Project. Facebook. February 2012. 89Ibid. 90 Paine, Katie Delahaye. The Social Media Measurement Manifesto. PDF. Page 4. February 2012. 91@ItGetsBetter Tweet Reach. Tweet Reach. March 2012. <http://tweetreach.com/reach?q=%40ItGetsBetter>. 92Ibid.

93Ibid. 94Keller,

Chris. How Does the Twitter Grader Calculate Twitter ratings? Twitter Grader. 17 November 2009. March 2012. < http://graderblog.grader.com/twitter-grader-api/bid/19046/How-Does-Twitter-GraderCalculate-Twitter-Rankings>. 95@ItGetsBetter Twitter Grade. Twitter Grader. March 2012. < http://tweet.grader.com/@itgetsbetter>. 96@ItGetsBetter TwitAnalysis. TwitAlyzer. March 2012. <http://twitalyzer.com/profile.asp?u=itgetsbetter&elapsed=20&tc=&em=&rl=409>. 97Ibid. 98Ibid. 99The It Gets Better Project. It Gets Better Project Online. February 2012. 100Ibid. 101Sidney Awards. The Sidney Hillman Foundation. February 2012. <http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/thesidney?page=1>. 10215th Annual Webby Special Achievement Award Winners. The Webby Awards Online. March 2012. <http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/specialachievement.php>. 103Book of Tens: Social-Media Campaigns We Liked. Advertising Age Online. 13 December 2010. March 2012. <http://adage.com/article/special-report-the-book-of-tens-2010/advertising-social-mediacampaigns/147616/>. 104Google Chrome: It Gets Better. YouTube Video. 2 May 2011. March 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7skPnJOZYdA>. 105The It Gets Better Project. It Gets Better Project Online. March 2012. 106It Gets Better Project Channel. YouTube. March 2012. 107It Gets Better Project. Facebook. March 2012. 108It Gets Better. Twitter. March 2012. 109Facebook Likes for It Gets Better Project. Wildfire Social Media Marketing. 14 March 2012. 110@ItGetsBetter Tweet Reach. Tweet Reach. March 2012. 111@ItGetsBetter Twitter Grade. Twitter Grader. March 2012. 112@ItGetsBetter TwitAnalysis. TwitAlyzer. March 2012.