“More people have a mobile phone than a toilet,” Matt Damon says in a video for Water.org, a nonprofit he co-founded. He encourages viewers to #TalkShit this week on ToiletDay.org and asks them to ‘donate’ their voice – through their Twitter or Facebook account – to bring attention to the global sanitation crisis.
This week, anyone can allow ToiletDay.org to post updates from their Twitter or Facebook account. The daily updates will continue until this Saturday, 11/19, World Toilet Day. Once you’ve authorized ToiletDay.org to use your account, their messages will be posted through your Twitter or Facebook (you have no control over these updates once you’ve ‘donated’ your voice.) But don’t worry – the site’s access to your account will be terminated after Saturday.
The campaign is using social media to start conversations about global sanitation issues, and injecting colorful language including “shit” and “crap” to add some humor and draw attention.
Toilet access is lacking for billions of people around the world, leading to infectious illness. ToiletDay.org encourages people to “cut the crap” and help save lives. The campaign is a partnership between Water.org, the Gates Foundation, Acumen, ONE, Worldtoilet.org, Change.org and Water for People.
Water.org has consistently been at the forefront of using social media in new ways – we covered the nonprofit’s “Twitter Twakeover” this summer, which allowed the winner of an online competition to tweet from the organization’s @Water handle.
Will supporters be willing to cede control of their Facebook or Twitter accounts for a good cause? When the sign-in screen pops up to enable ToiletDay.org to access your Twitter account, it says the app will be able to “See who you follow, and follow new people” and also “Update your profile.” While this was enough to make me hit ‘cancel’ – but overall it is an easy, one-click way to support a meaningful cause, and an innovative use of social media for social good.
What do you think?
