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“There’s no group of people on Earth that has more power to move people than you do.”
That was part of the message that YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki shared with the site’s Creator Blog on Saturday morning. After a week in which numerous killings across the country led to even more riots around race and gun violence in America, Wojcicki is calling on Google’s stable of YouTube-created celebrities to speak up and say something positive.
It’s a pretty smart strategy. These YouTube stars (and Vine stars and Snapchat stars and Instagram stars) have more reach and influence — especially among young people — than almost any group or person in the world not named Justin Bieber. Wojcicki could raise her voice on these issues, but the message will likely mean a lot more coming from PewDiePie than from a Silicon Valley tech executive.
Wojcicki was careful not to tell YouTube creators what they should say, but the underlying message was one about unity.
“How you use your voice is up to you,” she wrote. “But if you can use it to help us all figure out how to live together in respect, to lend support to the Black community, to Dallas and to all the victims’ families, we need to hear it.”
Here’s the full letter, which you can also read online here:
Creators,
This week, like every week, hundreds of millions of people will come to see you.
They will come to see what you believe, what you think, what you have to say. They’ll remember that they love who you are, what you do, and how you make them feel.
I know. I’m one of them.
But this week, after the unacceptable violence and racial injustice we all saw in the US, and following other tragedies around the world, they will come listening a little bit harder to hear a few things: like should they be scared, should they pick sides, should they hate more or love more. Should they tear somebody down or pick somebody up.
You have earned their love, their respect and their attention. Whether you ever intended it or not, your voice has enormous power to connect with your community. There’s no group of people on Earth that has more power to move people than you do.
How you use your voice is up to you. But if you can use it to help us all figure out how to live together in respect, to lend support to the Black community, to Dallas and to all the victims’ families, we need to hear it.
I can’t do what you do, but change needs to happen, so let’s see what we can do together.
Susan Wojcicki
CEO, YouTube
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
