By Daniela Carabello
Put away your mother’s book of social activist strategies. Gone are the days of handmade petitions, picket signs, sit-ins, and bake-sale fundraising. Today’s rallies are taking place on the internet and young adults are becoming increasingly involved.
Facebook.com, a website dedicated to networking among teenage and college-age populations, has become philanthropic. Or so it seems, when it comes to one public health cause.
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month Facebook users aimed to show that the same users responsible for groups such as ‘The Association for Girls in Love with Aging Celebrities’ and ‘Cool Kids with Green iPods Club’ are capable of social consciousness and aim to make the world a better place- one Facebook group at a time.
Groups such as, ‘For Every 1,000 People Who Join, I Will Donate $10 to Fight Breast Cancer’ and groups that encourage users to add pink ribbons to their profiles, are getting more and more popular on Facebook.
A search indicates over 500 groups related to breast-cancer awareness with as many as 795,836 members in the largest group.
Facebook activism has become the activism of the moment and breast cancer awareness is just the latest example. Members are raising money and awareness within networks and across communities for a variety of causes.
It is time efficient- ideal in our increasingly fast-paced world – and it also draws populations that are often deemed apathetic. But, it does have its critics.
Gaby Andiceochea, 21, creator of the satirical group ‘Because Joining a Political Facebook Group Totally Helps a Cause’ says in her Facebook group profile “Really, come off it….Buying your peace of mind by giving away your spare change or your leftovers or joining a few Facebook groups is hardly worthy of admiration.”
So how does one respond to this influx of Facebook groups claiming support of Breast Cancer Awareness? Can members of these groups be taken seriously?
“I think that it makes them feel like they can sleep better at night knowing they have done something, even if it’s joining one group” says Andiceochea. “I don’t think these acts are useless or stupid, but I happen to know they don’t fix anything and are most of the time more for the philanthropist’s benefit.”
Sarah Thomas, 20, a Bryn Mawr College junior, actively sends invitations and encourages her network of friends to add pink ribbons to their Facebook profiles. Recently affected by breast cancer in her family, she participates in the new trend but is also critical of it.
“It’s easy enough to get an event on Facebook- you feel like you’re doing something…but really, are you raising awareness?” she says “Its almost like you’re trying to make yourself look and feel better.”
Tristan Nguyen argues that these groups inform and educate other people and describes Facebook as a “dominoes effect.”
“It’s about getting other people to do the same, if they have enough information to continue to raise awareness” he says.
Nguyen, 26, started a Facebook group called ‘Tristan’s Big Bad Bald for Breast Cancer’ with the goal of raising $2,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. On November 10th, Nguyen shaved his head in an event that invited supporters of the cause to take part in the symbolic gesture and to commemorate his raising over $2,100.
“It depends on how you use it and how seriously people take you,” Nguyen says.
For Nguyen it was the diagnosis of his friend’s mom that made him consider breast cancer for the first time in his life. “At first I didn’t know the impact or the stats of the disease” says Nguyen.
Upon learning about it from her, a light bulb turned on in his head, “Maybe I should do something about this,” Nguyen says, “not just for her, but for the millions of people out there.”
Nguyen is one example of a person who believes there is something to be said for activism that takes advantage of the 54-million active users on the website.
Andicoechea disagrees, “I don’t consider it activism,” she says, “I think the Internet has made people feel like they’re doing more, with less effort.”
Andrew Held, 18, used a Facebook group to post a short film he made for a Breast Cancer Relay for Life at New Market High School in Toronto.
In his film, he asked people who had been directly affected by cancer to tell brief accounts. Held himself lost his mother of breast cancer in 2006 and has other family members who have battled the disease. He feels cancer is seen as a taboo.
“I thought if I showed them cancer is everywhere and that people they know and respect are comfortable with speaking about it then they could be more comfortable about it too,” he explained.
For Held, getting involved in this way counters people’s notions about teenagers. The film was only a piece of his involvement in breast-cancer awareness. Approximately $50,000 was raised at the Relay for Life last year.
Held says “I offered the students a chance to get together, have fun, and really show that we as a demographic care.”
While he acknowledges that many Facebook groups can be half-heartedly joined Held said: “I feel that Facebook can be a stepping stone. It’s a good place to start activism, joining groups and voicing ones opinion. "
Put away your mother’s book of social activist strategies. Gone are the days of handmade petitions, picket signs, sit-ins, and bake-sale fundraising. Today’s rallies are taking place on the internet and young adults are becoming increasingly involved.
Facebook.com, a website dedicated to networking among teenage and college-age populations, has become philanthropic. Or so it seems, when it comes to one public health cause.
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month Facebook users aimed to show that the same users responsible for groups such as ‘The Association for Girls in Love with Aging Celebrities’ and ‘Cool Kids with Green iPods Club’ are capable of social consciousness and aim to make the world a better place- one Facebook group at a time.
Groups such as, ‘For Every 1,000 People Who Join, I Will Donate $10 to Fight Breast Cancer’ and groups that encourage users to add pink ribbons to their profiles, are getting more and more popular on Facebook.
A search indicates over 500 groups related to breast-cancer awareness with as many as 795,836 members in the largest group.
Facebook activism has become the activism of the moment and breast cancer awareness is just the latest example. Members are raising money and awareness within networks and across communities for a variety of causes.
It is time efficient- ideal in our increasingly fast-paced world – and it also draws populations that are often deemed apathetic. But, it does have its critics.
Gaby Andiceochea, 21, creator of the satirical group ‘Because Joining a Political Facebook Group Totally Helps a Cause’ says in her Facebook group profile “Really, come off it….Buying your peace of mind by giving away your spare change or your leftovers or joining a few Facebook groups is hardly worthy of admiration.”
So how does one respond to this influx of Facebook groups claiming support of Breast Cancer Awareness? Can members of these groups be taken seriously?
“I think that it makes them feel like they can sleep better at night knowing they have done something, even if it’s joining one group” says Andiceochea. “I don’t think these acts are useless or stupid, but I happen to know they don’t fix anything and are most of the time more for the philanthropist’s benefit.”
Sarah Thomas, 20, a Bryn Mawr College junior, actively sends invitations and encourages her network of friends to add pink ribbons to their Facebook profiles. Recently affected by breast cancer in her family, she participates in the new trend but is also critical of it.
“It’s easy enough to get an event on Facebook- you feel like you’re doing something…but really, are you raising awareness?” she says “Its almost like you’re trying to make yourself look and feel better.”
Tristan Nguyen argues that these groups inform and educate other people and describes Facebook as a “dominoes effect.”
“It’s about getting other people to do the same, if they have enough information to continue to raise awareness” he says.
Nguyen, 26, started a Facebook group called ‘Tristan’s Big Bad Bald for Breast Cancer’ with the goal of raising $2,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. On November 10th, Nguyen shaved his head in an event that invited supporters of the cause to take part in the symbolic gesture and to commemorate his raising over $2,100.
“It depends on how you use it and how seriously people take you,” Nguyen says.
For Nguyen it was the diagnosis of his friend’s mom that made him consider breast cancer for the first time in his life. “At first I didn’t know the impact or the stats of the disease” says Nguyen.
Upon learning about it from her, a light bulb turned on in his head, “Maybe I should do something about this,” Nguyen says, “not just for her, but for the millions of people out there.”
Nguyen is one example of a person who believes there is something to be said for activism that takes advantage of the 54-million active users on the website.
Andicoechea disagrees, “I don’t consider it activism,” she says, “I think the Internet has made people feel like they’re doing more, with less effort.”
Andrew Held, 18, used a Facebook group to post a short film he made for a Breast Cancer Relay for Life at New Market High School in Toronto.
In his film, he asked people who had been directly affected by cancer to tell brief accounts. Held himself lost his mother of breast cancer in 2006 and has other family members who have battled the disease. He feels cancer is seen as a taboo.
“I thought if I showed them cancer is everywhere and that people they know and respect are comfortable with speaking about it then they could be more comfortable about it too,” he explained.
For Held, getting involved in this way counters people’s notions about teenagers. The film was only a piece of his involvement in breast-cancer awareness. Approximately $50,000 was raised at the Relay for Life last year.
Held says “I offered the students a chance to get together, have fun, and really show that we as a demographic care.”
While he acknowledges that many Facebook groups can be half-heartedly joined Held said: “I feel that Facebook can be a stepping stone. It’s a good place to start activism, joining groups and voicing ones opinion. "
But, be added: "If you truly feel strongly enough about an issue then get out and do something about it. Whether you run in a walkathon, organize fundraisers, or volunteer. Every little bit helps.”
1 comment:
As a Swarthmore grad and a member of the cancer survivor social network, CancerMatch http://www.cancermatch.com , I note the importance of fund and awareness raisers in helping all of us fight our cancer.
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