We were recently contacted by musician Mars (MarsRaps) who sent us a video he made in response to hearing that 1 out of 4 women had an experience with domestic violence. After hearing that stat, he felt that he needed to say something, so he wrote this:
He then challenged his fans to help him spread the word about domestic violence through tweeting or facebooking their commitment with the hashtag #TakeAStand.
We are always excited when people find their own way to start talk about safe, healthy relationships. With October (Domestic Violence Awareness Month) right around the corner, we encourage you to start thinking about what you could do.
We love when people lend their voices to worthy causes. Good job Mars!
Why do we love MTV’s “A Thin Line” campaign? Because issues like digital disrespect, sexting, spying, and cyber bulling are things that affect so many teens. When our lives are filtered through our personal profiles and cell phones, it can be hard to know what is normal when it comes to internet/phone interactions. After all, often no one else sees your texts but you.
But that’s where athinline.org comes in. It has tons of teens talking about tech issues like that. Between videos, blog posts, quizzes and more, it’s a good place to get a lot of information. And if you need to talk to someone, MTV has listed our number and chat so you can discuss your thoughts with one our peer dating advocates.
So we’re very happy to see that MTV has been nominated for one of the biggest broadcasting awards around, the Golden Beacon Award. We wish them luck.
Listen to Jason Rzepka, VP of MTV’s Public Affairs discuss “A Thin Line” in an interview with JustMeans:
Things got serious on the Real World last week. Fans watched as cast member Jemmye opened up about being in an abusive relationship and began seeking counseling on last week’s show.
Jemmye had an eye-opening moment after she had a breakdown after a day of heavy partying. She returned to the house and started breaking things, cussing the other house-mates out and refused to go to bed. It was during this tirade that Jemmye began to reveal things about her past relationship.
Read more about the events of the show in the Baltimore Sun’s write-up.
With the help of her roommate, Knight, Jemmye seeks help at a women’s shelter nearby. She begins talking about the situation and makes a commitment to go to counseling regularly. Watch the clip:
At the end of the show, our helpline number ran, encouraging anyone who is in an abusive relationship, or knows of someone in an abusive relationship, to call for support.
On Aug. 18, Facebook unveiled Facebook Places, a location-based phone app that would allow users to tag themselves at places, much like Gowalla and foursquare allow people to check-in around town. With Places, users would also be able to tag their friends at a location, just like you would a picture on Facebook.
Take a look at the video Facebook created to debut this new feature:
The app is getting mixed reviews. Some people are excited about chance to easily find friends when they’re out and about. Other Facebook users are concerned.
Part of the issue is that Facebook doesn’t ask if you want to use Places, it assumes you do. If you’re a FB user, then you’re automatically capable of tagging or being tagged with Places. If you don’t want to use Places, or don’t want others to tag you, your settings must be changed to “disabled.” Click here to see how to disable Places.
Why would someone want to disable Places? For one, a person could be tagged at a location that he or she was never actually at. This could potentially lead to cyber bullying. Also, if someone has a controlling or abusive partner, Places and other location-based apps could serve as a map for the abuser to find their girlfriend/boyfriend.
Facebook Places is an interesting addition to the already mega-popular social network. Consider if it will be fun and safe for you before you use it.
