Social change is possible through a method known as viral marketing, which uses the means of online video and social networking to promote a product or idea, McArthur, the one-named vice president of Free Range Studios, said during a forum on environmental activism and new media Tuesday.
Free Range Studios is responsible for online videos such as "The Meatrix" and "Grocery Store Wars," examples of viral campaign videos meant to raise awareness about the environment, according to McArthur.
Viral marketing requires creativity, passion, ethics and an absence of limited vision, she said.
During her speech, McArthur showed clips of "The Meatrix," a parody of the film "The Matrix" that originally sought to raise awareness of factory farming. The parody is an example of how Free Range Studios used viral marketing even before YouTube existed, she said.
Chris Palmer, director of the School of Communication's Center for Environmental Filmmaking, said students are capable of making social change through both the Internet and viral marketing innovation, just as McArthur did.
"What is inspiring ... is that students will realize that they can make a difference in the world if they are passionate, if they work hard, if they are innovative, they can make a difference," Palmer said.
Aside from Internet marketing tactics, there are still more traditional methods of creating social change, according to McArthur.
Models of communication have changed in recent years, she said. Peers, rather than parents and leaders, have become opinion leaders among college students.
This method of positive peer pressure can be responsible for starting out activism on a smaller scale, McArthur said.
"College students definitely have the opportunity to be opinion leaders for other people," she said.
Peer-to-peer interaction is crucial in raising awareness about the environment, McArthur said.
"At the end of the day, what you think is acceptable and what you're willing to let stand will change your social circle," she said.
Jacqueline Christy, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she was interested in the perspective McArthur offered.
"She gave a lot of good advice and a really interesting point of view from [a perspective] that you don't usually get to hear," Christy said.
Matt Harmelin, a junior in the School of Communication, said he found a new side of marketing on the Internet.
"Humor can be a really effective way to reach an audience," he said. "It can be even more effective than a serious message at times"
