LG Electronics (LG) has today launched a global campaign titled ‘Optimism your Feed,’ which seeks to draw encouraging content onto social media timelines by encouraging its fans to proactively engage with positive and inspiring content on their feeds.
“As a customer-focused brand, LG is a passionate champion of optimism. We aim to create positive changes in people’s lives by being intentional with our positive activities both online and in the real world,” said Kim Hyo-eun, the vice president and head of LG’s Brand Management Division.
“In the AI era, LG remains committed to our unwavering promise of ‘Life’s Good.’ We will continue to enhance our customers’ lives with a human-centric approach, fostering hope for a better future.”
A new global survey commissioned by LG found social media to be a source of anxiety, even as it serves as an important tool for entertainment, connecting with friends and family, and staying updated on news and current events. Almost half of the survey’s respondents (45 percent) reported that their social media feeds consist of an equal or greater amount of negative content than positive content. One in four respondents (28 percent) claimed that negative content on their social media feeds has increased their anxiety, and one in five (20 percent) noted it has made them unhappy. Other studies also suggest that algorithms often promote negative and niche conversations.
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The global survey sought to understand how to trigger algorithms to increase a feed’s positive content. The result is the ‘Optimism your feed’ playlist of original content which, when interacted with, pulls more optimistic content into one’s feed.[1] ‘Optimism your feed’ is part of LG’s global Life’s Good campaign, which was introduced last year to inspire and encourage people to approach life with an optimistic attitude.
Created in collaboration with global influencers renowned for their optimistic content including Tina Choi, Victoria Browne, Josh Harmon and many more, the ‘Optimism your feed’ playlist includes over 20 short-form videos ranging from motivation to feel-good content.
LG’s global playlist and campaign gives users the opportunity to see more positive and uplifting posts. It works on the premise that consciousness about what people choose to engage with brings stronger optimism, balance and happiness to their lives.
In the campaign, LG is consulting with social media experts including Professor Casey Fiesler, an information scientist and technology ethicist, who has published on topics such as social media content moderation and recommender systems.
According to Fiesler, “Recommendation algorithms determine what we see on social media by predicting what content we are likely to engage with. These algorithms can therefore send us down ever more specific niches – for good and for bad. Research has shown that left unchecked, users can go down negative rabbit holes and encounter harmful content quite quickly. One of our first lines of defense needs to be improving our digital literacy, and paying more attention to how algorithms influence our online experiences. And the good news is that we do have some control over the input for these algorithmic predictions; if we choose to engage with optimistic content, there’s a good possibility we will see more of it.”
Victoria Browne, a global influencer and TEDx Talk speaker, said, “The algorithms on our social channel can have a big impact on the content we see online, which impacts our mental health. That’s why I’m passionate about ‘Optimism your feed’, and I hope that people use this playlist as a foundation to retrain their algorithm and encourage positivity in all aspects of their lives. So much of the stigma and difficulty of tackling mental health is that it is unseen. With this campaign, we are saying you should reach out to your friends, and that we can help each other. Our algorithm should recommend content that makes us feel more connected to people, not less.”
The ‘Optimism your feed’ playlist can be found on LG’s global TikTok channel (@lge_lifesgood) and global YouTube channel (@LGGlobal), and will later spread to various social media platforms through collaborations with influencers around the world. More details can be found on the campaign page on lg.com (lg.com/lifesgood).