Surrender Your Say Twitter Campaign for Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a complex and difficult disorder to understand. It is completely random and variable; sufferers might experience physical tics; vocal outbursts; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; anxiety attacks. Sometimes, all at once. To raise awareness, the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada (TSFC) knew they couldn’t just describe the disorder – they needed the public to feel the lack of control, embarrassment and anxiety that comes with TS. To do that, they used the power of social media through Twitter.

Twitter is the online equivalent of walking down a busy street. You are judged by what you say – and if you say strange or offensive things at random, you risk being ostracized. People with TS experience this marginalization every day.

The big idea? We gave people Tourette Syndrome - on Twitter.

The program was called Surrender Your Say. Starting on June 19, 2013, we challenged the public to turn over control of their twitter feeds to the TSFC for 24 hours. They would allow the TSFC to randomly tweet Tourette tics directly into their Twitter Feeds. Participants would have no idea what those tweets would say, or how many there would be. And they would have no control over them. In this way, they would truly experience what living with TS is really like.