Social media has become a huge part of many people’s lives, so it makes sense that it will play an equal role in the death of several celebrities–digitally. Spearheaded by singer/philanthropist Alicia Keys‘s charity, Keep a Child Alive, the Digital Life Sacrifice campaign will find various public figures signing off from Twitter and FaceBook
tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 30) in an act of solidarity to raise awareness and funds for families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. Tied in to World AIDS Day, the social media boycott or “digital death†of Keys and her celebrity friends–including her husband Swizz Beatz, Usher, Serena Williams, Lady Gaga, and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, among others–will continue until $1 million is raised.As part of the campaign, participating celebs will send out “last tweet and testaments†viral videos, as well as dramatic images laying in a casket, to get the word out. “It’s really important and super-cool to use mediums that we naturally are on,” Keys told The Associated Press
. “It’s so important to shock you to the point of waking up.”Faithful Twitter followers are urged to help bring their favorite stars back to life by texting the first name of the celebrity they’re mourning to 90999, which will automatically donate $10 to the cause. With over 27 million followers among them, Keys and her high profile friends should back to tweeting in no time; but that doesn’t mean you should stand idly by. If celebrity Twitter accounts aren’t your thing, be sure to find a charity of your own choosing to donate to and help fight this ongoing epidemic.
“This is such a direct and instantly emotional way and a little sarcastic, you know, of a way to get people to pay attention,†says Keys. “It’s not that people don’t care or it’s not that people don’t want to do something, it’s that they never thought of it quite like that.”
Read more on World AIDS Day and people who are fighting to raise awareness