In celebration of the First Amendment, educational campaign 1 for All is encouraging high school and college students to speak their minds on Twitter.
Using the hashtag #freetotweet , students between the ages of 14 and 22 are asked to tweet something “informative, reflective, inspiring, irreverent, or just plain fun” in the name of the First Amendment, reported the 1 for All website.
In support of the campaign, 1 for All has gathered the support of musicians like Sarah Jarosz to encourage people to tweet.
“As a musician, I cherish my freedom of expression!” Jarosz told the Daily Dot. “I am honored to be able to participate in and support this great cause that celebrates National Bill of Rights Day.”
All tweets and entries posted on any publicly viewable social media platform, including blogs, must be posted today in order to be considered for one of 22 $5,000 scholarships.
Over the last 15 hours, #freetotweet has been mentioned more than 4,100 times. Most of those people, however, just tweeted about the contest. (Come on, people: It’s not called #freetoretweet.)
Some took it seriously:
“I stand up for the rights of animals just as I do for my free speech #FreeToTweet” tweeted Ymani Wince (@ymaniwince).
“The Occupy Wall Street movement speaks to the 1st Amendment best: Let freedom ring in actions and words #freetotweet,” tweeted @Nick_CTV.
And some less so:
“I can enter the 1 for all scholarship contest as much as I want? Thank you first amendment!” tweeted @Sarah28Anderson.
But that’s the great thing about the First Amendment: When your speech is free, you’re free to make it worth something.
Photo by rubyshoes