Most people know that October is breast cancer awareness month and the color pink, specifically a pink ribbon, is widely associated with breast cancer awareness. The pink ribbon has become a national symbol. “Pink is the quintessential female color,” says Margaret Welch, director of the Color Association of the United States. The pink ribbon shows support, but does it do more than that? I often wonder, is the pink ribbon becoming more about the appearance that one cares rather than a way to find a cure?
Being creative on social media is one of the best ways to get people’s attention and spark a discussion and response. In recent years, someone came up with the idea of the secret meme that was sent by private message only to women asking them to post a status update that included only the information about where they liked to put their purse. Responses were things like, “I like it on the bed” or “I like it on the kitchen table”. At first many people were confused by these updates, especially men since they weren’t clued in to what the meaning of the status was, but it started to spread and before long thousands of females were posting it. The fun status updates were developed to raise awareness for breast cancer. But did it really work? How many people who changed their status for that actually were active in trying to help find a cure or support someone with the disease? Or did it just get people talking?
The social media era is thought to be helping cases of activism succeed, but does changing your social media status or posting a picture of a pink ribbon to your social media account actually do anything to help find a cure for the horrible disease, or is this a case of slacktivism? Slacktivism is a “feel good” measure that allows people to feel like they did something to support the cause, but really they just boosted their ego and aren’t truly engaged or devoted to supporting ways to find a cure.
Sure, the campaign was funny and maybe it got people to talk about the disease when someone asked what their status update meant, but the viral campaign could have been more successful and beneficial to the actual survivors of the disease by:
- Providing links to organizations to donate money to help find a cure such as Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen, National Breast Cancer Foundation, or the American Cancer Society
- Including useful facts or information about the disease like the ones provided by the Maurer Foundation.
- Providing links to information about how to support friends or family dealing with the disease like this one… 22 ways to help a friend with breast cancer.
- Containing breast cancer statistics and warning signs with information of how to prevent or survive breast cancer. For example, one in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
- Providing links to sites that give useful ideas of how to organize a fundraiser that supports breast cancer awareness like this one… Double the Donation.
- Encouraging volunteers for breast cancer awareness events.
- Or at least posting funny memes encouraging women to get their yearly breast cancer screenings like this one….
But it didn’t do any of that. Instead, it made people feel like they did something to support the cause when actually they didn’t really do anything. They didn’t make a big change in the world by posting the status update. They just passively posted to their social media and never actually engaged in an event that could truly make a difference in the life of a cancer patient.
While I did not participate in this viral social media campaign, I did do something to support people around me with cancer. I’m a firm believer in using my talents for good, so I offered my photography skills to people who were battling cancer as a way to create memories, either for them or their loved ones. I’m not a doctor, or scientist, and I’ll never find the cure for this horrible disease, so this was the least I could do to provide my support.
RIP sweet Mindy, you are missed dearly.
The Wandering Yogi 33 