Norms provide our guidelines for everyday behavior. When we violate them, we can more easily see the power these often unspoken rules have over our everyday lives. I’ve posted before about “break-a-norm day” (when people decided to drive the speed limit on the Interstate; [link]). But I might like this one even more.
In this case a guy decided to hold up a “Free Hugs” sign in a public place and simply wants to offer people a hug to pass along a little peace and love in public life. According to the YouTube link where the video is posted, the guy behind it all is Juan Mann and his sole mission is to “reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.” Eventually he is stopped by the police (presumably for some public display violation) and apparently needs 10,000 signatures to resume. The video tells the whole story in images with a musical backdrop. [YouTube video link]
As any good break-a-norm day activity will, this one leads us to ask questions about not only which norms guide us. It can also get us to ask why. Why are we so unwilling to do something like this? What fears might we have? What consequences might we face for acting differently? What changes might happen if more people violated such norms?
[Hat tip to Bob]
[Update] There’s a video news report with more background information on the whole story [link]. It’s from an Australian TV station where the free hugs experiment occurred. Mann has been doing this weekly for two-and-a-half years. The video was created by the band Sick Puppy to accompany their song.
[Update2] FreeHugsCampaign.org is the official home for the free hugs movement. It includes a forum, photos, video, and more.
November 2, 2006 at 11:37 am
Chinese slow to embrace ‘free hugs’ campaign
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/30/china.hugs.reut/index.html
November 3, 2006 at 10:09 am
A nice catch on the Free Hug campaign in China. It makes for an interesting question about how response would vary across different cultures.
February 16, 2007 at 9:14 pm
[...] this video, “The Message,” on YouTube and for some reason it reminded me of the “Free Hugs” video. I don’t know the story behind it, but in this case it looks like someone out [...]
June 7, 2008 at 9:02 pm
[...] 07 – Self, Society, & Social Construction, Norms In something of a variation of the Free Hugs campaign, a guy in London went out with a sign offering free cash (£5 notes) to anyone who would [...]
January 22, 2009 at 8:57 am
[...] about Juan Mann’s “Free Hugs” campaign. I had an earlier post about the campaign, Break-a-Norm Day: Free Hugs, and the original video that kicked off the Internet craze is here: Free Hugs [...]
September 29, 2009 at 11:09 am
[...] September 29, 2009 Break-a-Norm Day: Improv Everywhere Posted by Jon under 03 – Culture, 06 – Deviance, Deviance, Norms Leave a Comment Two of the Soc101.com posts that receive the most hits involve breaking norms. One reported on an experiment where a group of people drive the speed limit (Drive 55) and the other involves free hugs. [...]