A quick look at the most-viewed videos on YouTube today includes “TICK TOCK!!! with SHANE DAWSON,” a Kellie Pickler/Taylor Swift music video and a vlog called “HITTING KIDS WITH PUDDING!” All fascinating, I’m sure, but not anything that will help the world in any substantive way. Thankfully, though, YouTube also wants to help those who want to help others.
As CNN reports, YouTube’s Video Volunteers page “pairs deserving but underfunded charities with creative video producers willing to help them.” The page allows nonprofits to post descriptions of projects they want videos produced for, then those interested in producing videos can find a project that sounds cool to them. Sounds like a great synergy to me.
Since late last year, one issue has been featured monthly, and this month’s issue is health. According to the CNN article, an average of 75 new volunteer videos show up each month on the Video Volunteers site. Shawn Ahmed, who’s video blogged about poverty relief in Bangladesh and did a video for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, discussed how he thinks people use YouTube and how that affects his approach.
“When people watch videos on YouTube, they don’t approach it the same way as when they watch CNN or ‘Heroes.’ It’s very personal interaction for them. I just wanted to take a personal approach … I thought if I do it this way, people would get more involved.”
That’s the point, really. Getting people involved, to help out nonprofits that may not have as big of a presence because of budgetary limitations, but are doing something that should be publicized. And with YouTube’s impressive reach, it’s great that the company wants to give back in this way. As YouTube spokesman Aaron Zamost is quoted as saying, “There are all these really big, sexy parts of YouTube, but we need people to know about this [project] because it actually matters.”
You can check out the Video Volunteers page here and if you want to submit a video promoting a health organization, you have until Feb. 23 to do so.
Screengrab courtesy of YouTube