Why #HeForShe is the Most Shareable Video 2014 in the #ShinyShinyAwards

So, it’s been in your hands and now it’s been decided by you: the winner of the ShinyShiny Award for the Most Shareable Video 2014 goes to #HeForShe!

We can think of multiple reasons as to why you’d vote UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson’s nervous but impassioned speech as your favourite viral video for 2014, despite the fact that there have been some other great contenders this year – it’s inspiring, uplifting, and more relevant than ever, as proven by the fact that it was strewn across our newsfeeds for weeks. Evidently, it struck a chord with huge numbers of you, and is wholly deserving of the winning title.

Here are some of the most powerful quotes from the speech.

• “I HAVE REALIZED THAT FIGHTING FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS HAS TOO OFTEN BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH MAN-HATING. IF THERE IS ONE THING I KNOW FOR CERTAIN, IT IS THAT THIS HAS TO STOP.”
• “WE NEED MORE OF THOSE AND IF YOU STILL HATE THE WORD, IT IS NOT THE WORD THAT IS IMPORTANT. IT’S THE IDEA AND THE AMBITION BEHIND IT.”
• “IN MY NERVOUSNESS FOR THIS SPEECH AND MY MOMENTS OF DOUBT, I’VE TOLD MYSELF FIRMLY, ‘IF NOT ME, WHO? IF NOT NOW, WHEN?’”
• “IT IS TIME THAT WE ALL SEE GENDER AS A SPECTRUM INSTEAD OF TWO SETS OF OPPOSING IDEALS.”

Massive congratulations for winning!

Although #HeForShe was the clear winner, there were some other brilliant videos on our shortlist, too. Here are a few of them.

Look Up

With over 47.5m views, Gary Turk’s “Look Up” addresses the paradox of isolation that arises from overusing “social” media. This video proved to be extremely popular with our voters, too.

First Moon Party

This brilliantly cringey take on first periods gets the tone exactly right – it was easily justified on our list.

Linkin Park’s ‘In The End’ as 20 different artists – Ten Second Songs

Musician Anthony Vincent has made a name for himself covering famous songs as a range of artists. Here, he takes on emo favourite ‘In The End’ as The Beatles, Enya, Boyz II Men and more. Fun, and quite frankly, this guy is supremely talented. He deserves recognition!

Congratulations to Emma Watson and #HeForShe – you’ve done a huge service to all of us, and couldn’t deserve the award more.