PosAbilities YouTube video sees uptake ‘skyrocket’
Kristian Partington

 

PSY, a singer/songwriter/rapper from South Korea, managed to rack up an astounding total of close to 1.2 billion views on YouTube with the song “Gangnam Style” since the video was first posted 6 months ago.

A Gangnam parody on the posAbilities YouTube channel produced by the communications team and network marketer Alisha Mann featuring Josh Rimer, is clipping at the heels of the original as it continues to add more views.

As of Jan. 15, six days after the video was posted, more than 7,600 people had viewed “Employment Style,” featuring Josh and a collection of people connected to posAbilities drawing attention to inclusive employment in a fun and engaging way.

Shirley Yamashita-Paterson is the director of community development with the Family Support Institute and a passionate advocate for community inclusion, not to mention a bit of a social media junkie.

When she first saw “Employment Style,” the sharing began instantly.

“I’m really passionate about social media,” Shirley says, so when she comes across information or videos, “I tweet it, I Facebook it, I send it out in an e-mail.”

As for the Gangnam Style parody: “It’s crazy, the uptake on it. The views, they skyrocketed.”

She’s effusive in her praise for the efforts of the team at posAbilities in terms of digital storytelling, and she can’t say enough about the work of Alisha and Josh to expand the reach of the message of inclusion through the YouTube channel.

The videos are fun, really light, but they have a definite message,” Shirley says. “I can’t say more that’s positive about it. They’re doing a great job.”

She agrees that in terms of social barriers, the employment question for people who have a disability is one of the last to come down, and each new effort that helps raise awareness, whether it is a detailed study or a light-hearted, fun video, is a boost to the cause.

“Really it comes down to just a base value system that talks about people being people, regardless of challenge,” says Shirley.

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