MTV is beta testing a youth-oriented social network focused on activism and works of charity called ThinkMTV. The project also has the backing from an array of nonprofit groups including the Steve and Jean Case Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Amelior Foundation. The site’s slogan is “Get Educated, Get Connected, Get Heard, Get Active and Get Rewarded,” with the last part referring to the awarding of grants totaling $500,000 to select activists under 25. Members of the MTV’s “Think Community” can take their profiles and friends with them to any site in MTV Network’s Flux Network, an open platform that lets websites and bloggers to add community tools to their sites.

ThinkMTV also has ties to a number of youth groups (e.g., the Boys & Girls Clubs of America), the United Nations, and celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, John Mayer and Shakira. MTV’s focus on activism comes as a number of media companies have recently embraced the environmental movement, such as Discovery’s $15 million purchase of eco-centric blog Treehugger in August. Additionally, site will serve to promote MTV News’ web and TV productions and is already soliciting citizen journalists for its Choose or Lose political campaign coverage. 

• Viacom’s “New” Digital Soda Pop: Flux, VBS.tv and Tagworld
• MTV VMAs Panned But Britney, Others Draw A Cross-Platform Crowd