DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced its 2017 “What’s Your Story?” contest during Safer Internet Day 2017. This year’s theme, ‘If you could change one thing about the internet, what would you change?’ aims to engage and empower youth in an important conversation through the power of video and social media.
The ‘What’s Your Story?’ campaign, championed by Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids & Families program, invites schools and students in the U.S. and Canada to share their thoughts on what they would change about the internet and how they would do it? While the contest theme changes yearly since its inception in 2010, this year’s theme is designed to understand how young people currently view the world and the internet’s impact on it, and to elicit responses about their aspirations or hopes about the future of life online.
Each year the contest launches on Safer Internet Day, a day celebrated in over 100 countries worldwide to raise awareness of emerging online issues and encourages all to be part of discussions about them and participate in some way to address them.
“We want to empower our kids and learn from them,” said Lynette Owens, global director, Internet Safety for Kids & Families Program, Trend Micro. “Our kids have been raised in a time when being online is a natural part of their lives. They know and understand a lot, and we have an obligation to listen and learn from their experiences. This past year has presented many challenges for society online which sparked our interest in asking a question like this. We are excited to see what the youngest members of our society have to say about it.”
Trend Micro is offering two $10,000 grand prizes – one for a student film-maker and another for a K-12 educational institution. Additional cash prizes will be offered for runner-up winners. Video submissions will be judged on how well they answer the question, as well as how much the contestants have promoted their entries to as wide an audience as possible.
Since 2010, individuals – teens and adults – and schools across the globe have participated in the online video contest which has asked contestants to address a wide range of topics, including: Being a Good Online Citizen, Using a Mobile Phone Wisely, Maintaining Your Online Privacy and more. ‘What's Your Story?’ was created to give young people a voice in guiding the conversation about what safe, responsible and savvy Internet use is or should be. The contest has a stand-out quality that makes it unique – to become a finalist, participants must not only effectively address the topic of each contest, but must also become advocates of their own stories by sharing it with as many people as possible through social media and other means.
Finalists’ entries will be reviewed by a panel of experts in the fields of Internet safety, media literacy, and technology, including: ConnectSafely, Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, MediaSmarts, and the iCanHelpLine. The full list of judges can be viewed here.
Winners will be announced on or around May 9, 2017. To learn more about the contest details, submit a video, or see past winners, visit http://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.com. Follow Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids & Family’s Twitter handle (@TrendISKF) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TrendMicro) for contest updates, and stay on top of the discussion using the hashtag #WYS2017.
Trend Micro’s Commitment to the Internet Safety of Kids and Families
To support its vision of making the world safe for exchanging digital information, Trend Micro aspires to make a difference by using its expertise to make the world at large a better place. Trend Micro has made a commitment to make the Internet a great place for young people around the world through its world-wide employee volunteer program, grants and donations to eligible organizations, and partnerships with those who share its vision and mission. For Trend Micro’s free Internet safety tips, tools and advice, visit the Internet Safety for Kids and Families page.
About Trend Micro
Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With over 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.
