Facebook, Tumblr and Yahoo! are among other tech companies joining millions of Americans on 10/19 and going purple and standing against bullying on Spirit Day. The success of Spirit Day has been boosted by social media since it began in 2010, and tech companies are once again supporting the campaign in its third year.
Facebook will be supporting Spirit Day by turning select national pages purple, including Facebook's StopBullyingSpeakUp, Diversity and Safety pages, as well as encouraging employees at offices around the world to wear purple on October 19. Facebook has participated in Spirit Day since 2010, when an event page was created to promote the first Spirit Day, attracting hundreds of thousands of RSVPs. GLAAD worked with Facebook to remove hateful comments and images posted to the event page. In 2012, Facebook became the first social media company to be receive a GLAAD Media Award.
Tumblr is supporting Spirit Day on its own social media channels, as well. The idea for Spirit Day was first posted to Tumblr by Canadian teen Brittany McMillan in 2010, and the company observed the first Spirit Day in 2010 by turning its logo purple. This year, the staff recorded a video with Spirit Day Ambassador Brittany McMillan, which it posted on the Storyboard blog. Tumblr also plans to promote Spirit Day with more editorial content, and staff also plans to wear purple on October 19! Check out Tumblr's video with Brittany below:
Trapped in the Tumblr Closet: Brittany McMillan from Tumblr on Vimeo.
On Spirit Day, StumbleUpon will turn its logo purple across its social media platforms, include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. The staff also plans to tweet about #SpiritDay and encourage employees to wear purple. StumbleUpon will also center the themes of posts around purple for the day.
Hulu has also announced its support for Spirit Day. The company plans to talk about Spirit Day on its social media channels on Friday.
Mobli is participating by creating a special Spirit Day channel where users can share photos of themselves wearing purple to stand up against bullying.
Yahoo! is participating in Spirit Day again, kicking off by posting about Spirit Day to its Yahoo! Pride page. Last year the company went purple on their social media sites, posted about Spirit Day to the Yahoo! OMG Blog, and enouraged employees to wear purple (see right).
"When young people find a sea of purple profile photos and supportive voices on their favorite websites and apps, it sends a powerful message that it's okay to be who you are," said GLAAD president Herndon Graddick. "Tech giants like Facebook and Yahoo! are leading the way in taking steps to address bullying and bringing Spirit Day's message to young people year round."
Social media is critically important to spreading the word about Spirit Day, and supporters are encouraged to make their Facebook and Twitter profile photos purple using the tools on the Spirit Day website, www.glaad.org/spiritday. GLAAD also provides graphics that can be shared on social media sites.
Supporters are also encouraged to upload photos of themselves wearing purple to Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr using the hashtag #SpiritDay.
GLAAD introduced two Spirit Day mobile apps powered by Toyota Financial Services which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Download them today to turn your photos purple and add a special #SpiritDay badge that is only available by using the mobile apps.
Other tech companies supporting Spirit Day this year include Comcast, Yahoo!, Mobli and AT&T. See all participants and get involved at www.glaad.org/spiritday!
If your tech company, start up, or social media firm would like to sign on as a Spirit Day participant, it's not too late to sign up.
Tweet your support for #SpiritDay now and help get it trending!
