Youth Media International and Context Optional Announce 'Stop Me From Spending!' Facebook Application

SAN FRANCISCO and OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Youth Media International (Youth Radio) and Context Optional, the social marketing company, today announced the launch of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting-backed "Stop Me From Spending!" Facebook application. The Context Optional-powered application is the first from Youth Media International and is aimed at giving young people a social way to encourage each other to be more thoughtful spenders.

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Youth Media International approached its first venture in application development by collaborating with young people to create the Temptation Converter, a composite tool capturing young people's ideas for what they want and need as they navigate this tough economy. The Temptation Converter allows users to type in "tempting" items, select price and category, upload a picture and immediately translate these temptations into reasonable ways to spend money. Additionally, the application allows friends to post temptations on each others' walls, and comment on these temptations to help each other make better spending decisions.

Youth Media International joined forces with Context Optional, whose proven track record of developing social and viral Facebook applications was recently recognized by Facebook's Preferred Developer Consultant Program, to build "Stop Me From Spending!" The application helps young people harness their social networks to get and compare useful economic data in a fun way.

"Stop Me From Spending!" is the latest addition to public media's EconomyStory, a collaboration of twelve public media organizations creating online tools, resources and services to help people understand the economy. The collaboration is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and located at EconomyStory.org.

"'Stop Me from Spending!' grew out of the recognition that young people are hugely influenced by their friends, so this was a real opportunity to tap that peer orientation in a positive way," said Lissa Soep, PhD, senior producer and research director, Youth Radio. "Working with Context Optional allowed us to create a Facebook application that helps young people take advantage of their social networks to benefit themselves and one another."

"Youth Media International's application really speaks to young people looking to become better spenders in the New Year, because it's social and educational, rather than a one-way tool that simply pushes content at young people," said Kevin Barenblat, CEO and co-founder, Context Optional. "By working with Youth Media International on this project, we're hopeful that we can help build stronger engagement with the youth audience around a common theme for 2010: getting smarter about spending."

About Youth Media International
Youth Media International is a social enterprise launched by Youth Radio, a Peabody Award-winning youth-driven production company with headquarters in Oakland, California and bureaus and partners in every region of the United States and around the world. Youth Media International delivers distinctive transmedia content (audio, video, photography, written posts) to outlets including National Public Radio, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and MTV.

More information about Youth Media International, Youth Radio and the Stop Me from Spending! application can be found on the company's Facebook fan page and Twitter @youthradio, and on their website, http://www.youthradio.org.

About Context Optional
Context Optional is a leading provider of social marketing solutions to global brands and advertising agencies. Context Optional's expertise lies in helping companies build, manage, monitor and advertise brand presence to meet their acquisition, engagement and retention goals. By combining industry expertise, a leading technology platform, and comprehensive data and analytics into an integrated approach, Context Optional offers the most effective social CRM and marketing solutions for Fortune 1000 brands and agencies. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York and Seattle.

To learn more about Context Optional and the range of social marketing services and tools that the firm offers, please visit www.contextoptional.com. You can also follow Context Optional on Twitter @contextoptional.

SOURCE Context Optional