The It Gets Better Project aims to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth by sharing personal stories from adults about how their lives improved after struggling with bullying or feelings of isolation. The project takes advantage of digital media and social networking to connect people and their stories on a global scale. It demonstrates the power of storytelling and convergence across multiple platforms to bring about social change and give hope to those in need.

1. T S
E ER
G T t
It ET c on
e
je
t al
no
B ro
e
ar
u
: Yo
ES
RI
P
O
ST
N G
RI
S HA
by: Barbra Ramos

2. “ alone.”
I don’t want to feel

3. alone.

4. Im agine you are b eing bullied at school or that life feels l a terrib l struggle that you can’t
ike e
seem to win against.
It’s not that hard to im agine, is it?
Teens and kid s everywhere, esp ecially lesbian, gay, b isexual transgend er and questioning
,
youth, face these kind s of problem s.
Yet, they feel alone.
They feel like no one und erstand s them .
The IT GETS BETTER PROJECT
tries to change that with the power
of personal stories.

6. T
i
m
G
u
n
you are not
n
.
L
a
d
y
P
alone.
G
ae
gtr
ao
.a
li
c
Ke

7. It GETS BETTER
With over 40,000 vid eos like this one by Tim Gunn, cel
ebrities, politicians, artists,
and non-celebrities/everyd ay peopl share their stories. They talk about how
e
they’ve fel growing up to give som e value and truth to the proj
t ect’s m antra
of It Gets Better.
It Gets Better takes peopl personal life stories, particularly ad ul and
e’s ts,
through their l experience and structuring of their personal life stories as
ife
they have grown to m ake sense of what they have end ured and been
through, they give hope to youth in need of inspiration and support.
“Id entity [… ] is an integrative configuration of self-in-the-ad ul
t-world ” (M cAd am s,
2001 ) and whom better to help you und erstand your sel your id entity, and
f,
the world we all live in, but the ad ults who have m ad e it through and
survived al the struggl and pain?
l es

8. Understanding the world
As Rose (201 1 ) said , “storytel is the sim ple act of sharing” and It Gets
ling
Better is a perfect exam ple of personal sharing and storytell to bring
ing
about social change.
The stories told by people reflect their realities and these “life narratives
obviousl reflect the prevailing theories about ‘possible l
y ives’ that are part of
one's culture” (Bruner, 2oo4).
The stories shared by those in It Gets Better speak about a d ifferent future than
the ones m ost im agine when they are stuck in feelings of d epression, loss,
fear, and anger. It helps them to real that better possibilities exist.
ize

9. It GETS BETTER with technology
The proj takes ad vantage of the d igital age and em erging m ed ia technologies
ect
to connect peopl and their stories with the rest of the world .
e
This Open-Source Model of bringing together stories also d em onstrates
voluntary cooperation as participants wil y post vid eos of them selves to
lingl
help others.
D an Savage, creator of It Gets Better, found the Internet and social m ed ia as
the perfect m eans to get his m essage across.

10. … M r. Savage had blogged about the suicid e [of Bil Lucas], and a read er had
ly
written: “M y heart breaks for the pain and torm ent you went through, Billy
Lucas. I wish I could have told you that things get better.”
M r. Savage said he felt the sam e way. But how to tel them ? He gives tal at
l ks
colleges regularly, but not at m id d le schools or high school “I would never get
s.
perm ission,” he said , blam ing a system of “parents, preachers and teachers”
who “bel ieve they can terrorize gay chil ren out of being gay as they grow up.”
d
His real
ization was this: “I was waiting for perm ission that — in the era of
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook — I d id n’t need anym ore.”
(Stelter, 201 0)

11. CONVERGENCE
The cross-integration of It Gets Better on d ifferent social m ed ia platform s, as wel as
l
events and trad itional m ed ia such as television (M TV and LO GO ) and publ ished
books allows for an transm ed ia storytelling experience in which peopl can take part in
e
m any d ifferent ways.

12. Convergence
This proj shows signs of convergence, which allows for m ovem ent and creation from al
ect l
points of entry and inevitably relies on the actions aud iences take as they are given a
sense of networked ind ivid ualism , where they are allowed to d ecid e whether and how
to participate (Joinson et al, 2007).
In this d igital environm ent, people find that there are m ore opportunities to tap into and
util not only their own social capital, personal experiences, and inform ational
ize
resources, but also those of others around the world (J oinson et al 2007).
.,
From this proj com es a wealth of personal experiences and resources to hel youth get
ect p
through these hard tim es, as m ore and m ore people take the pl ge.
ed

13. The it gets better pledge
Everyone deserves to be respected for who
they are. I pledge to spread this message to
my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak
up against hate and intolerance whenever
I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide
hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other
bullied teens by letting them know that…

14. It gets
better.

15. REferences
Bruner J (2004) Life as Narrative. Social Research, 71 (3).
, .,
Joinson, A., McKenna, K. Y A., Postm es, T., & Reips, U.-D . (Ed s.). (2007). The Oxfor Handbook of Int netPsychol
. d er ogy.
O xford : O xford University Press., C hapter 1 2.
McAd am s, D . (2001 ). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychol
ogy, 5(2), 1 00-1 22. d oi: 1 089-2680/01
Rose, F (2011 ). Art of Im m ersion. (pp. 36-37). N ew Y
. ork: W.W. N orton & C om pany.
Stelter B. (201 0, O ct 9). C am paign offers help to gay youths. New Yor Times. Retrieved from :
, k
http:/ www.nytim es.com / 0/ 0/ 9/ 1 9vid eo.htm l
/ 201 1 1 us/