Dove's #SpeakBeautiful campaign hopes to make the digital world a better place for young girls. This was launched to pursue empowering women and help impressionable girls filter through the negativity on social media.
Since social media is a vital tool for communication among the youth, the likelihood of exposure from negativity and toxic conversations online is present daily. In 2015, Dove actually did a survey on young girls and self-esteem, and learned that at least 70 percent believe social media is a strong influence in how they view themselves while 72 percent admitted to encountering negativity in the online world.
More than half of the girls agree that they have to learn to properly engage on the internet and use this as a tool for positive empowerment. Thus, the company would like to counter these negativity with the #SpeakBeautiful campaign.
Such negativity is at an all-time high in the last few months leading up to the U.S. 2016 elections, where empowering women and women's roles have become the topic of debates on social media. "We live in a world where girls are constantly confronted with unwarranted negativity online," the company noted in its press release.
This negativity can have a huge impact on girls' self-esteem.
— Dove (@Dove) October 5, 2016
Learn how you can help by following along @Dove on Twitter. #SpeakBeautiful pic.twitter.com/TdW4MgoTDI
"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter is a young and active social media user who has been bashed and ridiculed online for the way she looks and dresses. Yet she remains on social media to engage her fans and followers as this is already a regular part of her life.
She believes that the #SpeakBeautiful campaign will help encourage girls and the rest of the world to choose what they say on social media carefully. "We're teaching parents and campaigns how to talk to their children and students, so we can start changing the conversation," the actress told Teen Vogue. Learn more about Dove's #SpeakBeautiful with Ariel Winter in the video below.
