Twitter always seems to have the most interesting trending topics. Some are often passed by with little to no attention. However, one of Twitter’s trending topics last week seemed to spark the attention of millions. With the upcoming presidential election, many celebrities are working together to encourage everyone to vote. The newest challenge has been presented by former first lady Michelle Obama. She posted to Twitter on Wednesday with the following tweet: “Throwing it back to my 1982 prom night and this pink satin, polka-dotted dress. Join the #PromChallenge with @WhenWeAllVote and @MTV and tell us what your school is doing to register students to vote. You could get a free prom for your school!”
The tweet unsurprisingly caught a lot of attention, including many celebrities who joined the movement. Big names such as Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross and more fan favorites have joined in on the hashtag and shared photos from their high school proms so many years ago. By offering a free prom as an incentive, Obama and the growing list of celebrities are encouraging people of all ages to register to vote this season.
The challenge is in partnership with MTV as well as When We All Vote, an organization which Michelle is the co-chair of. The challenge also has many sponsors, such as Rent the Runway, which is also advertising this challenge. The goal of the challenge is to find 20 schools that encourage voting in creative ways, and they will be provided with a free prom for this year. The hashtag gained so much of a following on Wednesday that it became one of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter. With A-List celebrities encouraging citizens to exert their voting power, it is no surprise that it has already made a difference. More and more people have been registering to vote these past few days alone, and the challenge will extend all the way until March 10.
Schools can submit an application to participate in this challenge, and the top 20 schools will be awarded $5,000 to contribute towards their prom this year. The hope of this challenge is to have young people vote for the first time, and prom is one of the most stereotypically exciting times when you’re this age. This is why the celebrities are tweeting pictures from their junior and senior proms. The turnout of voters is expected to be more significant this year, especially among the younger generation, who has proven time and time again to be unstoppable. Fans happen to love seeing these adorable throwback pictures from their favorite stars, which makes them that much more encouraged to post their #PromChallenge on social media and register to vote. Of course, seeing your idol do something has much more of an impact, and encourages people that much more. The Prom Challenge has already gained a great amount of momentum and is expected to continue growing over the course of the next few weeks.
Want to learn more about #PromChallenge? Click here.
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