Power to the people - The Shorty Awards

Posted on 12th Jan 2012 by Katy Cowan in Blog

Starting movements has never been easier, especially since the digital revolution brought us the delights of the Internet and social media. In fact, since communication went global it has changed the world as we know it, bringing about cultural shifts in every walk of life.

Like never before brands, organisations and even individuals can start their own movements at the click of a button. They can push messages out there, get feedback, build something and make things go viral with the whole world listening, watching, sharing and participating. And nothing beats brand credibility than someone sharing your messages.

Take the Shorty Awards, for example. It's an annual awards event that 'honors the best producers of short content on social media'. Now in its fourth year, it recognizes the people and organizations producing real-time short form content on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube and the rest of the social web.

But here's the clever bit. Millions of people make their nominations by either tweeting or going through the ShortyAwards.com website, supporting their favourite characters on the web. All those tweets then culminate in a highly anticipated awards ceremony that celebrates the winners in dozens of featured categories, as well as thousands of crowd-sourced community ones.

Think about it. It's a whole awards ceremony that involves the public. It's giving 'power to the people' and allows anyone to have a good chance at winning one of the many categories. Don't you think that's awesome. You simply wouldn't have ever imagined something like this was possible, even 10 years ago. Sure - we had telephone voting, but nothing spreads as easily or as fast as tweets or Facebook updates.

And every year the Shorty Awards has expanded, becoming one of the biggest events on the web and now supported by the likes of The New York Times. It's a viral events platform that has become a success through making best use of sharing. It has started a movement of its own while allowing millions of others to do the same.

The Shorty Awards is a great example of how anyone can start their own movement or have a chance at being recognized for their efforts and hard work. The Internet has made the world smaller and given power to the people. And I'm actually on there, currently in 11th place for the 'Blogger' category. You can vote for me and Creative Boom here.