Interactive Annual 19:
Social
The World's Most Valuable Social Network
“I hope this trend continues, where social empowers us to change the world around us.”
—Perry Fair
“A smart use of social networking communications to help solve a very serious problem.” —Scott Prindle
The Missing Children Society (MCSC) is the only organization in Canada committed to the search and rescue of missing children. They handle an estimated 50,000 reported cases every year and receive no government funding support. As a result, they have very limited financial resources for expansive search efforts. The World’s Most Valuable Social Network uses the power of online communities to create the first-ever online search party the minute a child goes missing; by allowing individuals to donate their newsfeeds to the MCSC, it gives the authorities direct access to that person’s social network. The tool launched as part of International Missing Children’s Day on May 25 along with a digital campaign to promote sign-ups.
- • From start to finish the project took less than six months, development time was a short two months and beta testing and coordinating with authorities took another three months.
- • In the first 2 weeks, more than 10,000 people signed up to use the tool. The current social reach is over 1.5 million people every time a missing child alert goes out; the tool is projected to reach 70 percent of all Canadians.
- • Geo-targeted functionality allows people to receive alerts either nationally or more specifically to where they live.
Comments by Patrick Scissons
“I have a renewed perspective on the power of social media. With Facebook going public and the value of social networks being debated in the media, we realized there was the potential to use these millions of interconnected people for a higher purpose—to help find missing children.”
“The emotional weight of the subject matter and the cause were both difficult to deal with and rewarding. Looking over the case database and working with investigators was troublesome, but when the tool found its first missing child, it was incredibly satisfying.”
“Nothing. The Most Valuable Social Network has already helped find six children. Most importantly, it’s empowered an entire nation to be a part of the search process and will, I hope, make perpetrators think twice the next time they consider abducting a child—because now there’s no place to hide.”
Credits
Todd Lawson/Yusong Zhang, art directors
Marshneill Abraham/James Ansley, writers
Patrick Scissons, chief creative officer
Malcolm McLean, strategy
Daryl Brewer/Toby Pilling, developers
Alice Keith, agency producer
Patty Moher, project manager
GREY Canada (Toronto, Canada), project design and development
Missing Children Society of Canada, client
