Every year, it seems like holiday music starts playing earlier and earlier! No one should have to listen to “Let it Snow” while buying Halloween decorations, but now that it’s officially December, there’s no shame in dusting off your favorite songs of the season. If you’re bored of the same old holiday tunes or looking to give the gift of music this season, check out some of these SocialVibe staff favorites. There’s something for everyone on your list!
For your hipster older brother:
She & Him
“A Very She & Him Christmas”
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward offer up quirky interpretations of some of the best-loved classics, as well as a few less-familiar tunes. Their sparse arrangements are innately cheerful, featuring jaunty guitars and whimsical whistles. Zooey’s folky warble isn’t for everyone, but this charming and eclectic album is sure to delight fans of indie music.
For your teenage niece:
Justin Bieber “Under the Mistletoe”
What else is there to say about Bieber? He proves once again with this collection that he’s our reigning prince of pop. From the original title track “Mistletoe” to his creative interpretation of “Drummer Boy” featuring Busta Rhymes, there’s no doubt that this fun mix is perfect for his fans. (As a bonus, part of the proceeds from album sales will be going to various charities including the Make A Wish Foundation!)
For your flower child father:
Carole King “A Holiday Carole”
A blend of timeless tunes and original compositions, this album feels familiar from the second it begins. Carole King’s first album in a decade is an instant classic, each song decorated with her personal style and perfect for a festive night in with friends.
For your classy & classic grandmother:
Michael Bublé “Christmas”
Michael Bublé and Christmas songs go together like eggnog and sugar cookies! Few can resist the buttery softness of his voice as he croons the classics, each one making you feel as cozy as if you were in front of a roaring fireplace. This album is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, even if the crowd is your entire extended family.
Do you have any other holiday favorites? Share in the comments section below!
Also be sure to check Give.SocialVibe.com for new activities every week to raise money for your favorite charities for free throughout the holidays. It only takes a minute to give back!
On this tenth anniversary of 9/11, we’d like to pause and recall the moments that have drastically changed our lives for the past decade.
We can all remember what we were doing when we heard the news that morning. This year, the New York Times has created an interactive Google map where people from around the world can pinpoint and share where they were and how they felt when they first heard. To browse the stories and add your own, you can check out the map here. The map is part of the New York Times’ larger collection of articles, photos, and reflections called “The Reckoning: America and the World a Decade After 9/11.”.
We appreciate the efforts of all of our members and our charities, and this month it seems especially important that we highlight the IAVA, which stands for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Since 9/11, over 2.2 million Americans have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and the IAVA continues to provide resources for veterans and returning soldiers. The IAVA improves the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families as they focus on addressing mental health issues, a stretched VA system, health care costs, and education.
Summer has finally arrived! You can't help but think about the beach when you think about summer, but beaches are pretty important year 'round.
Rivers, oceans, and beaches are more than a fundamental part of our summer experiences; they represent a vital eco-system that affects everything from sea life to or our economic well being.
We all know there are plenty of threats to beaches, oceans, and sea-life, but it's not always clear how things like pollution affect us and what we can do to help, aside from the obvious like not littering. Thankfully, organizations like Heal the Bay are here to help.
Here are a few simple things you can do to help keep our oceans healthy and clean:
- Don't clean or garden with harsh chemicals. The cleaning products we use end up in our oceans. If you garden or wash your car with these products, chances are they're going into the ocean without being filtered. Making your own cleaning products with ingredients like baking soda and lemon are healthier for your family, cheaper and better for the environment. Learn how here.
- Of course you don't litter, but make sure your friends, family and others don't either. Whenever you get the chance, teach kids about why it's important to never litter.
- Learn about volunteer opportunities like beach clean-ups, and recruit friends and family to join you.
- Reduce urban run-off by conserving water. Faucets off while you brush!
- Purchase items from buythebay.org. All proceeds from each item support Heal the Bay projects!
It's difficult to believe that genocide can take place today. Tens or hundreds of thousands of men, women and children being systematically killed? Impossible. Someone would surely stop it before things escalated to that… wouldn't they?
Since 2003, rebels and government forces in the Darfur region of Sudan have killed hundreds of thousands, kidnapped, murdered, maimed, and raped citizens, poisoned wells, burned entire villages, and displaced more than 3 million people.
Being a refugee does not mean you've escaped and are out of harm's way. Roughly 80% of deaths in Darfur have been among displaced people, most as a result of unsanitary living conditions.
The documentary, The Last Survivor examines the idea of genocide in the 21st century. It tells the story of survivors of four different genocides: the Holocaust, Darfur, Rwanda, and the Congo.
We've all heard the line:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
In each case of genocide, thousands died before anyone stepped in. The Last Survivor takes a look at how we face similar issues today.
In honor of World Refugee Day, make this the next movie you watch. It's been winning award after award at film festivals, but you can watch it online for free here.
Don't have time to watch today? Plan another night to watch with friends or family. There's plenty you can do right now. It takes less than a minute to sign this petition, urging Congress to support laws and actions that prevent genocide.
In 1994, more than 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda as the rest of the world stood by. President Clinton later said that he regretted not sending the 5,000 peacekeepers requested and lamented that that single action could have saved 500,000 lives.
After signing the petition, complete a short activity in support of one of the following organizations on SocialVibe, working to support peace and human rights around the world:
Invisible Children works to educate rescued child soldiers and stop the LRA. More about the LRA here.
The American Red Cross works around the world, providing medical supplies, skilled response workers, and financial assistance to communities in crisis.
The Censorship Research Center provides uncensored Internet access to oppressed people, while protecting their identities.
In Germany, Father's Day is celebrated by groups of men going on hikes with wagons full of wine, beer, and regional foods.
Call it what you will; it seems suspiciously close to a picnic.
In Thailand, people give their dads and grandfathers Canna flowers, which are considered to be "masculine flowers."
Regardless of how you celebrate, here are a few gifts that are sure to please dear ol' dad.
Thank dad for everything while supporting the goal of an AIDS-free generation born in 2015 with a gift from (PRODUCT)RED.
Does your dad already have a garage full of tools? Here's a set that we bet no one has given him: an emergency tool kit for a refugee through the International Rescue Committee.
The IRC was founded in 1933, at the request of Albert Einstein, and helps those affected by devastating humanitarian crises. The $75 kit includes a shovel, spade, pick ax, rubber boots, gloves, hacksaw, and rope, and will be given to a village member to assist in flood recovery efforts.
Have a dad that loves golf? Support his fave weekend hobby without contributing to the whopping 300,000,000 golf balls that are discarded in the US every year, by giving dad the world's first 100% eco-friendly golf balls .
Dixon will recycle his old ones and turn them into things like playground items for kids. They'll even credit up to $6 per dozen towards new Dixon Earth golf balls. Their factories are eco-friendly too!
Can't be talked out of the traditional tie? Choose one that's fair trade here.
Want to go super eco-friendly? Don't buy him a thing – get him an experience instead! Sign him up for a rock-climbing lesson, rent him a kayak or take him to a ballgame. Try Tickets for Charity to snag seats at dad's favorite events while supporting great causes.
The memories will last way longer than a digital keychain, won't take up any space in a garage, closet, or drawer, and are guaranteed to never go out of style.
Founder of Stand up To Cancer and producer of movies like Spiderman, Pretty Woman, and As Good As It Gets, Laura Ziskin, lost her seven year battle with breast cancer this past weekend.
Even as her own cancer spread, she never lost her will to fight, or her faith that we can and will cure cancer.
"The truth is cancer doesn't care who you are, where you come from, how much money you have, and how famous you are. You can't run from it. But you can fight it. And, we are confident, one day, we as a people will conquer it. Twelve million cancer survivors are living proof we can change the odds against this disease."
A year after being diagnosed, Laura used her influence in Hollywood, along with her will to survive, to launch the largest, strongest fight against cancer that the world had ever seen.
Since 2008, Stand Up To Cancer has raised more than $200 million to fund research, help scientists from different institutions work together, and get the resulting treatments and cures to patients as fast as possible.
Laura will certainly be missed, but her legacy lives on, and her dream of making every cancer patient a survivor is something that we will all continue to fight for.
Once upon a time, we lived in a world where no one expected the companies that sold them soap, shoes or snacks to also help cure diseases, feed the hungry, and protect animal habitats. Sure you'd find the occasional donation can at a cash register, but for the most part, bettering the world was not something you looked to do while shopping or encountering ads.
All of that is rapidly changing. Welcome to the "We First" world - one where people are more socially aware than ever, and companies are pulling their weight in innovative ways to create positive change around the world.
In his new book, We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World, Simon Mainwaring (@simonmainwaring) discusses the connection among social media, brands, charities, and everyday people. He points to SocialVibe as an example of the power of spreading messages on social media and talks about the incredible movement from a "me" world to a "we" world.
We're so honored to be a part of the "we" movement and thrilled to be included in this inspiring book.
Below, SocialVibe CEO, Jay Samit, sums up "the power of all of us."
"Just a few minutes a day…a click here…a post there…can inspire millions to give back to those in need. On average, SocialVibe users share brand campaigns with 170 of their friends and our members, their friends, and our advertisers continue to use social media for social good each day."
We've had the honor of working with hundreds of your favorite brands that want to make a difference. From uploading images of light to fund solar energy projects through GE, to making virtual beds through Marriott to fund disaster relief efforts, we've been able to help offer actions that highlight the work of both brands and charities – and we couldn't have done it without you.
What are some of your favorite socially responsible brands? Share them in the comment section!
A Saudi woman was arrested Saturday after posting a YouTube video of herself driving. She has an international license and was abiding by local traffic laws. Her crime? Driving while female.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban both Saudi and foreign women from driving.
Despite the lack of a written law prohibiting women from being behind the wheel, the religious police strictly enforce the country's interpretations of Islamic teachings.
Women who can't afford $300-400 each month on hired drivers must rely on male family members to drive them to work, school, the grocery store or even the hospital. In fact, Saudi women are often prevented from working, going to school, traveling, purchasing phones, getting married, or even accessing health care without permission from male guardians (called "mahrams").
Part of public school curriculum in Saudi Arabia is teaching boys how to use their guardianship rights.
Perhaps motivated by the powerful effects social media movements have had in the region lately, human rights activists started a Facebook and Twitter campaign, encouraging women in the country with international licenses to drive on June 17th.
To get things started, Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-old mother and computer security consultant who learned to drive in the United States, posted a YouTube video of herself driving – a bold move as women who've tried in the past have been banned from travel and even lost their jobs.
In part due to public pressure, Al-Serif was released after signing a pledge to no longer drive, but authorities arrested her again the following day and she is now being held for "violating public order."
Al-Sherif recalls crying, as she stood stranded and alone on the street one night, unable to drive herself home despite having a license. She couldn't find a cab or get a hold of any male family members to pick her up, and became frightened as Saudi men harassed her for being out alone.
Another woman, Najla Hairiri, said that, although she did not get video footage of herself, she drove for 4 days last month, before being stopped, to show her daughter that women can and should be able to drive.
The campaign's Facebook page had 11,000 supporters by the time Saudi censors removed it.
From the page:
"We women in Saudi Arabia, from all nationalities, will start driving our cars by ourselves. We are not here to break the law or demonstrate or challenge the authorities. We are here to claim one of our simplest rights. We have driver's licenses and we will abide by traffic laws."
Saudi censors apparently do not have a problem with the page put up to counter the movement. Nearly 6,000 have "liked" the page, which demands that women who attempt to drive be whipped.
Want to help? Support the movement by sharing the message on Facebook or sending a Tweet.
