Change.org The Power of Digital Tech and Online Video for Social Impact
Change.org over 100 millions users and thousands of monthly hosting sponsored campaigns and petitions for people and organisations.
The internet and sharing economy revolution are still in its inception but fast growing, and peer to peer digital based platforms are the engine that grow its footprint. Change.org is the fastest-growing website for social change in the world, and is one of the leading digital peer to peer platforms, where people everywhere start campaigns, mobilise supporters, and work with local and global decision makers, organisations and companies to drive change and find solutions. In a so called accelerated circular economy Change.org is the leading global petition website operated by Change.org, Inc., an American certified B Corporation corporation, social enterprise which claims to have grew over 100 million users, and hosts sponsored campaigns for all type of organizations. The organisation has also over 1,2 million users in Facebook and 1.33 million in the main Twitter account and other numbers in the various local countries where it operates.
Change.org was launched in 2007, by Ben Rattray, that remain chief executive since than. Rattray was included in the 2012 Time 100 list of the world's most influential people, a Stanford alma mater. The website started with the support of founding chief technology officer Mark Dimas, Darren Haas, and Adam Cheyer. As any other website and digital platform Change.org has gone through multiple iterations, starting as a social network for social activism, and after changing into a cause-based blogging platform, then transitioning to the present successful iteration as a petition platform in 2011.
As of February 2012, according to Wikipedia entry sources, the site had 100 employees with offices on four continents. By the end of 2012, Rattray the founder and CEO, stated "he plans to have offices in 20 countries and to operate in several more languages, including Arabic and Chinese." In May 2013, the company announced a $15 million round of investment led by Omidyar Network and said it has 170 staff members in 18 countries.
Both individuals and companies have been using this social impact digital platform and the list of corporations that have been suing include Virgin America, and organizations such as Amnesty International and the Humane Society, partnership / pay the site to host and promote their local and global petitions. Change.org's social impact and change driven DNA stated mission is to "empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see." Popular topics of Change.org petitions are mostly related with economic and criminal justice, human rights, education, environmental protection, animals rights, health, and sustainable food.
When Change.org first launched, the organisation goal were guided by one goal: to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see. As injustice and inequality has come face to face with technology's modern-day picket sign Change.org is an example of a platform that uses tech for social good and further in social impact.
In June 2016 the organisation hit a huge milestone in their march toward that vision - surpassing 150 million users worldwide. Change.org are now growing by more than 1 million new users a week, driven by more than 25,000 new petitions each month - more than double the 2015 number.
Increasingly people are looking for P2P ways to interact and make social impact, and they are coming to Change.org to highlight the issues they are facing and spark and accelerate the largest national and international social movements of the present time, tied to the world’s biggest social, economic and politic stories.
An example of a very public and successful petition was when more than 1 million people have taken action to protest the recent Stanford sexual assault case, fueling the movement to stop sexual assault on US University college campuses. After the UK’s Brexit referendum last week, more than 400 petitions were started, reflecting in this case the contradictions and the social impact pulse of a nation driven by digital P2P platforms.
Another case of a high profile petition was in Brazil, recently when more than 2 million people used Change.org to call for a new government amidst a major political crisis. The list of global sensitive and very public petitions where politics, economics and social movements get together goes on. The growth of social digital activism is emerging and with Change.org is happening and augmenting in each of the 17 countries in which they have staff.
Change.org Leverages the Power of Video to Drive Social Impact by Partnering with Video Creation Platform Wochit.
Change.org is also a tech driven platforms conscious of the power of digital and as the world’s largest platform for social change, it is betting in video driven cloud computing technologies solutions.
Change.org announced recently on this subject a partnership with cloud-based video creation platform Wochit that will help the organisation to accelerate production and distribution of high quality, socially-optimised video, critical for the petitions and the reach to users in an internet that has a big church of activities in video. Around 70% of the activities / time online are passed according to some sources around video streaming.
The deal is part of Change.org’s strategy to increase its digital outreach social impact by leveraging the power of online video’s ability to drive higher website engagement for their petitions and campaigns and build stronger emotional connections with the platform’s 150 active million users around the world.
Following an initial, three-week pilot program during which Change.org used Wochit to create and publish videos across social platforms in the UK, Germany and Italy, the company selected Wochit for wider rollout. Change.org cites Wochit’s user-friendly, robust editing tools, ability to standardise graphic identity while also permitting language localisation and the ease of collaboration across teams and geographies as critical factors in its adoption. To date, Change.org has expanded Wochit implementation to Spain, France, Indonesia and the US, with more locations to follow.
John Coventry, Global Head of Communications for Change.org stated about this partnership / deal, “We’ve been searching for a tool we can use to deliver high quality, highly shareable video content at pace and scale. With Wochit’s tools and content library, we’re able to quickly, easily and effectively tell persuasive stories through video and amplify their impact through social channels. We’re just getting started, but early tests are highly promising and the future for our video content looks incredibly bright.”
Garrett Goodman, Director of Business Development, EMEA for Wochit on his side said, “As video becomes an essential part of the way we learn about current events and experience the world around us, having a cost-effective way to produce this content is imperative for organisations whose mission is to drive awareness and catalyse action. We are honored our platform was selected by Change.org and look forward to contributing to positive social development.”
About Wochit Video creation platform
Wochit is a video creation platform that empowers newsrooms, media companies and brands to expand audience engagement through the power of social video. Worldwide media brands such as Time Inc., Daily News, USA Today, Gannett, AOL, The Week, ProSieben, Die Welt and Der Spiegel use Wochit to produce short-form videos around trending topics at the scale and speed required in the video-first, mobile era.
With rights-cleared assets from AP, Reuters, Getty, Bloomberg and others, cloud-based editing tools and native uploads, horizontal and vertical videos are quickly created and distributed across all social and digital platforms. The Company is backed by Cedar Fund, Greycroft Partners, Marker LLC and Redpoint Ventures. Wochit is based in New York, with offices in London and Tel Aviv. Find out more at www.wochit.com.
