Best in Social Activism in Social Media - Shorty Awards

13th Annual Shorty Awards Categories

The Shorty Awards honor the talented agencies, brands, and industry leaders behind the best and most innovative work on social media and digital channels, campaigns, websites and applications.

Best in Social Activism

This award honors brands, organizations and institutions that use social media or digital to address and dismantle systemic structural and interpersonal inequities based on race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability status and any intersection(s) thereof.

See previous winners and honorees here.

Social Activism

"Vote Because __________ Depends On It”

In 2020 the United States faced an historic election and we knew that no ordinary get-out-the-vote campaign could do everything we needed it to. The COVID-19 crisis was grinding the country to a halt. Widespread misinformation about voting and mail-in ballots threatened to suppress democratic action. And although the nation seemed hopelessly divided, it was…

Social Activism

ADA30 Lead On: Celebration of Disability Arts, Culture, Education & Pride

Our objective was to design a fully accessible variety show with open captions, open audio descriptions and sign language interpreters that educated, entertained and empowered the nation's 57 million men, women and children with disabilities about the world's first comprehensive civil rights law protecting people with disabilities. Paramount to this objecti…

Social Activism

Black Immigrants Are Under Attack

When most people hear about the current state of the U.S. immigration system, they picture borders and brown people. With “Immigration is a Black Issue,” we wanted to show people how Black immigrants are actually disproportionately impacted by our punitive immigration system. As a national immigration advocacy and legal services organization, we had the …

Social Activism

Comm and Marketing Director

Tap Black content creators across 8 swing states in U.S markets to help galvanize the Black community to register to vote, volunteer to become poll workers, and Vote! The goal is to make an active difference in voter turnout and volunteering at the polls.

Social Activism

Father's Day Taken

On May 25, 2020, the most important news story in America was sparked by a dad who did not make it home – George Floyd. His death resulted in nationwide protests that galvanized citizens demanding an end to the brutality. But, a devastating number of Black fathers in the U.S. were and still are taken from their families because of racism and violence.  …

Social Activism

With families spending more time at home and online, the threat of online child exploitation is more urgent than ever.

Social Activism

In recent history, the LGBTQ+ community has made major strides in their fight for equality. But even today, they are made to feel uneasy with public displays of affection. So for Pride 2020, amid a global pandemic, stay-at-home orders and social unrest, Kay saw an opportunity to bring people together by evolving their iconic tagline, “Every Kiss Begins …

Social Activism

Known Stories of Unknown Women

Gomes da Costa, the largest Brazilian brand in canned fish, is very well known all over the country, but was loosing consideration. We needed to raise this consideration by engaging our consumer, middle class women. We needed to show the relevance of the product and the brand in their lives. Those women were the most affected at the pandemic, losing their j…

Social Activism

LOGO's 2020 LGBTQ State of the Union with Billy Porter

Ahead of the 2020 State of the Union Address by then-President Trump, Logo aimed to offer an alternative State of the Union, one for the LGBTQ community, delivered by celebrated actor and Pose star Billy Porter. With LGBTQ+ rights at risk or deliberately under attack by the Trump Administration, and with the increasing record of trans homicides each year, P…

Social Activism

Make a Plan to Vote

Protect Our Winters (POW) tasked us with mobilizing outdoor enthusiasts to cast a ballot for climate champions in the 2020 election. To create a successful campaign, we needed to stand out from the avalanche of election-related content, especially in a year so unprecedented and, dare we say, eventful. But we also knew that our message needed to bring peo…

Social Activism

Riding with Sunshine

This happened to me in real life, and I've seen the stuff in the news about racism and always knew it was out there but once it happens in front of you...you realize you have two options you can look away or do something about it. I chose to do something about it. I want to get my friends story out there, my friend is one of the sweetest guys you could meet…

Social Activism

The Crystal Gems Say Be Anti-Racist

The past years have witnessed steadily increasing hostility, trolling/bullying, anti-Black violence, and widespread social strife. 2020 and the pandemic accelerated all of this, as a highly visible wave of anti-Black violence brought increased attention to enduring issues of race and racism. Cartoon Network knows that this racial hostility impacts kids and …

Social Activism

The Fight for Fair

Since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has fought to ensure housing is fair for as many Americans as possible. But as with any important fight, our work is never done. People are still experiencing discrimination today and are locked out of homeownership. As America’s largest trade association, NAR …

Social Activism

The Formerly Incarcerated Fighting for Criminal Justice Reform

Second chances are not easy to come by; especially for the 70 million people who have had to interact with America’s punishment-first criminal justice system. The current approach to criminal justice in the United States often exacerbates problems it would hope to alleviate. Instead of helping to rehabilitate people commit crimes, the system throws barriers…

Social Activism

Transhood TRANSlation

Celebrate the release of the HBO Original Documentary Transhood with an activation that highlights and serves the Transgender community, specifically Trans youth and parents raising Trans children in a COVID-safe manner while encouraging discussion and engagement with important issues effecting the community in the Unites States today.

Social Activism

Unlock Water For All

When COVID-19 hit, Americans were overwhelmed by how best to prevent the spread of the virus, yet one message never wavered: Wash your hands. But how do you wash your hands if you don’t have water? With soaring unemployment numbers, people couldn’t afford to pay their bills. And nearly 40% of Americans were at risk of water shutoffs. As the leading fauce…

Social Activism

Why mispronouncing a name can undermine a student’s identity – and how to help

How does the way a teacher pronounces a student's name impact their education – and why does it matter? In 2020, Qatar Foundation and Vox Creative's Explainer Studio partnered on an Explainer Video to find out. The in-depth Explainer Video that was the result of our explorations and featured remote interviews with students and educators across the world sha…

Social Activism

gOD-Talk 2.0: Digital #BlackFaith

Since 2018, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) Center for the Study of African American Religious Life in association with the Pew Research Center has sought out to explore the dynamic ways that Black millennials are choosing to engage in organized religion through our web-based series, “gOD-Talk.”…

Social Activism

Over the last year redfish emerged as one of the nr. 1 social media sources that exposes injustices and covers the protests and social movements that respond to them. Aimed to inspire progressive social change, redfish closely covered movements like Black Lives Matter, the Indian farm bill protests for the dignity of farm workers, the French global security…

About the Shorty Awards

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media.

Millions of people participate in The Shortys to recognize individuals and organizations producing great content on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok, Snapchat, and the rest of the social web.

shorty awards finalists will be announced in mid-march!