UP | uncultured project

YouTube is more than a website to host your videos. The problem is that, especially when it comes to non-profit organizations and charities, most don’t realize that. When I first started this project, most of what I could find on YouTube on the issue of global poverty (coming from charities and non-profits) were generic TV spots, fundraising videos, and mini-documentaries that were uploaded to YouTube as an afterthought.

That’s not how you build interest in your cause….

I’ve been trying my best to change the conversation about global poverty – that is making things less guilt-inducing, less donation-obsessed, more personal, and trying to use the power of the internet in a way formal organizations aren’t. Thanks to you guys, you’ve turned this informal project (with no next to no budget) into the most popular anti-poverty related channel on YouTube. It’s good to see that a lot of formal organizations are now following suit. Since starting this project, The ONE Campaign has started a vlog (of sorts), charities like Save the Children are really stepping up, and I’m now there are gems from organizations I never knew even existed.

But that’s just the start. There is so much more to convey about what charities and orgs should be doing that just following this blog or my YouTube channel isn’t going to convey it all. Fortunately, a good friend of mine has recently come out with a book which I hope will become the definitive guide for every charity, organization, and non-profit out there seeking to advance their cause on YouTube. It’s called “YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts” and it’s available from Amazon right now.

The book devotes a chapter to charitable causes on YouTube, talks about the Project for Awesome, and talks about the importance of the YouTube community. It also includes an exclusive interview with me If you see my approach as something your organization or charity should be emulating – I highly recommend you check this book out.

[Full Disclosure: I wasn't paid for my interview in this book, I don't make a dime off of any of the sales of this book, and even the Amazon referral link I'm using isn't mine but gives referral money to one of the authors]

Hey there ONE Campaign folks! I’m a big fan of you guys. In fact, I wear your ONE Campaign bracelet almost everywhere I go! I can also tell you’re a huge fan of my work – especially my latest video called “Thank You YouTube”:

Thanks so much for finding a way to reduce that video down to 30 seconds (which I guess you guys decided to call “ONE Thank You”):

I’m really flattered you even stuck with a similar text effect for the “Thank You” at the end!

FYI, I come up with stuff like this all the time. Why not give me a call? I’d be happy to help out if you guys out more formally sometime

P.S. On a more serious note, this is actually an awesome message from The ONE Campaign. It’s positive, non-partisan, and optimistic. The fact this 30 second video is going to be used in a national ad campaign should hopefully counter-balance those dark, depressing, guilt-inducing videos we often see on TV about global poverty.

One of the things I’ve learned from this project is that some of the most vile, intolerant, and hideous comments I have received have been left by local Bangladeshis who are privileged enough to have the resources to access (and be hateful) on YouTube.

The thing to keep in mind is that, with over 80% of the country earning less than $2 a day, those within Bangladesh who are able to comment and critique my videos come from a very narrow (and very privileged) position in society. I guess sometimes the hardest people to get through to are those living right in the middle of it all.

More after jump. Discretion advised.

Continue reading ‘Dealing with Haters from Bangladesh’

Last Thursday was a good day for the YouTube Community. One YouTube’s biggest personalities (Michael Buckley of the What the Buck Show) was on the frontpage of the NY Times. The article was about something a lot of people within the YouTube community already knew – how it’s possible to make money (sometimes a lot of it) through YouTube.

I posted this scan of the frontpage of that issue because I wanted to show you what the main story on the frontpage was. You might not think that a story about the plight and suffering in the people in the third world (the frontpage story) has anything to do with YouTube. But for me – and what I’ve devoted myself to these past two years of my life – they couldn’t be any more related.

We live in incredibly trying financial times. Forget the boardroom table, all of us are feeling this hardship at the dinner table. And money which could have been used to provide mosquito nets to every man, woman, and child in a malaria hot zone, or education to every child in the developing world, or clean water to every human being on the planet – is instead being spent on bailouts for Wall Street.

As it gets harder for us to convince politicians the importance of those beyond our borders – we’ll need new ways to continue the fight against global poverty. And YouTube is absolutely critical to that. This year’s Project for Awesome is a great example of that. We can keep the conversation going about global poverty well into a future where the mainstream media debates whether the day’s main story should be about a new bailout or Britney’s new single.

And, as my parents and I look into the family financial situation to see how many months (not years) this project can continue, this NY Times article is a poignant reminder of the fact that it is theoretically possible to make this project sustainable. All that we’ve been able to do together – all the lives this project has been able to touch – cost about 1/10th of what Michael Buckley earns through YouTube’s partnership program.

I’m not saying I will ever (or even deserve to be) as popular as Buck. Whether or not I can continue to sustain what I’m doing, I just hope that one of the greatest technologies of modern history can be used to fight one of the biggest plights that humanity faces.

I didn’t drink purified cow feces to be sensationalist. I also don’t consider myself a stunt man. This quick video up on my secondary channel on YouTube shows some of the reasons why I did this particular experiment and some of the science behind why I was at virtually no risk in doing it.

[UPDATE: The Project 1010 guys took the video down but I'm told the a new version will be up soon. I'll fix the video link in this post when that happens.]

I recently stumbled upon this charity in Kenya called The 1010 Project. I just had to share this with you. Why? Just look at the video:

You aren’t left feeling pity or like you’ve been taken on a guilt-trip. This is how you change the conversation about global poverty.

I also want to get in touch with these guys because I want to know how they were able to get permission to use Sigur Ros’s music. A while back I tried to get permission but I never heard back from those guys…

This project is less about me and more about the online community that is supporting this journey every step of the way. Here’s a new video from a friend of mine by the name of Matt. He votes for the pond sand filter part of Challenge Poverty in a really creative and passionate way. I have to admit I never thought of the issue like that until I saw Matt’s video.