This year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation is using social media for the first time to spread awareness about Mandela Day.
Mandela Day, on 18 July (Mandela's birthday), is an international day adopted by the United Nations to celebrate the life and legacy of Mandela.
Individuals and organisations are all encouraged to participate by dedicating 67 minutes to helping their local communities in any way they choose.
“The Mandela Day campaign message is simple: Mr Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it's supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community,” says a statement from the foundation.
Sello Hatang, information and communications manager for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, says the organisation joined Facebook, Twitter (@ NelsonMandela http://twitter.com/#!/nelsonmandela), Flickr and YouTube about two months ago. An official Web site has also been established, where members of the public can register an activity and see what others are doing to mark the occasion.
“We've seen really great results, and our followers on Twitter have grown from 100 when we started out, to close to 22 000 in the space of just two months,” says Hatang.
“Through our social media accounts, we are providing genuine information about Nelson Mandela, the Mandela Centre of Memory and the Mandela Day initiative, and we ensure that we provide daily updates.”
Mandela Mondays
“For the first two years of Mandela Day, the foundation was not officially on any social media platforms,” explains Hatang. “This year, however, we have seen substantial growth of awareness among the media and members of the public - and this is because of the power of social media.”
As part of the Mandela Day project, the foundation has also been running a “Mandela Monday” initiative, in order to create a build-up to Mandela Day. The #MandelaMonday hashtag has also been trending on Twitter.
“It starts off with a Monday - we are trying to turn blue Mondays on their head, and make Mondays positive instead,” says Hatang.
“We are asking people to just take five minutes of their Monday to do something small, something manageable. They can just start from there and ultimately we hope that it will become part of their everyday ethos.
“We want to create the consciousness among South Africans that everyone can do something,” says Hatang, adding a message for ITWeb readers: “Even IT gurus and professionals can use their skills for good.
“If each one of us does something small, we believe that we can achieve our goal of creating a better world for all.”
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