On 10 December 2009 freedom had only one face.
At first, it was a website: YourFaceForFreedom.org, birthplace of the campaign supporting the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, organised and sponsored by Lancia.
A wall called Wall of Freedom appeared on the website. A wall to unite and mobilise awareness, a virtual wall newspaper for bearing witness to one's beliefs and amplifying the cry for freedom to help the Burmese leader who is the symbol of oppressed freedom.
Supported by a never-ending grapevine, the initiative Your Face For Freedom was soon all the rage on the web owing to a domino effect on Facebook, the social network par excellence, the leading news carrier and at the same time the collector of reactions and support that the emotional wave of the event aroused.
To aggregate supporters, Your Face For Freedom Official Page was inaugurated. The focal point of presence on Facebook, it is the communication channel and at the same time the faithful diary of the activities directly and indirectly generated to support what was to soon become a motto, Aung San Suu Kyi Free Now. Beside articles with texts, images and videos, every day the page became enriched with the contribution of fans: reports, news, and links of interest in a climate of growing solidarity.
Side by side, targeted pressing was put into effect to reach journalists and bloggers selected from those having greater affinity with the initiative's spirit, obtaining further comment in terms of reports in online and offline publications, posts on blogs and support of all kinds.
In the meantime, the users that had downloaded the application “counter” could check the growing number of supporters synchronised with the countdown of the days until the culminating appointment simply by accessing Facebook.
“The last and final moment is yours”
On 10 December 2009, the day designated for presenting the Nobel to President Obama, thoughts and words of thousands of souls were concentrated in one simple gesture: replacing their photos on their personal profiles on Facebook with the picture of Aung San Suu Kyi in a digital “flash mob” that was set out from dawn until dusk in the rapid succession of the various time zones.
On the day after the traffic indicators confirmed the extent of the participation:
more than 50,000 visits to the website yourfaceforfreedom.org, thousands of supporters in the section Wall For Freedom, and thousands of international supporters of the event on Facebook.
What the figures do not say is the size of growth that the event generated.
In the hearts of those who spent time sharing the initiative, without a doubt. And in the history of which we are all witnesses: an indelible sign of a desire for change and of a collective sensibility toward the lofty and founding themes of human essence.
Playing the role of interpreters, as Lancia chose to do, always entails increasing commitment and responsibility.
With the awareness that this goal, of which the Wall of Freedom remains the tangible and attainable manifesto for whoever wants to participate, is not a finish line, but a starting point.
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